Love Me Or Forget Me
by Kukaburry
Summary: An ancient evil has resurfaced, an even greater force than before. Serena must face her past and destiny and determine what true friendship and love is all about. COMPLETE
1. When Hell Comes

Love Me or Forget Me

By Kukaburry -Disclaimer of Sailor Moon-

Usagi/Mamoru or Darien/Serena

Chapter 1- When Hell Comes

"Oh Tuxedo" Serena sighed, wrapping herself in his arms and leaning her head against his chest. "I love you", she whispered into his ear as she nipped his lobe lightly, making him shiver. He smiled down on her through his white mask, his mysterious eyes penetrating her thoughts. His breath was warm on her cheek as he leaned towards her lips.

BRRRRRING

Serena's alarm clock went off like a siren, and she slammed it against the desk and heard the ringer groan into silence. She rolled over in her warm, pink comforter and slipped back into a Tuxedo-filled dreamland. Her conscience made her open her weary eyes and watch the minute hand tick slowly to the twelve, and the hour hand shift to the 7. "Shit!" She cried as she flew out of bed, sending her cat yowling into the wall. "Sorry Luna", she yelled to the cat as she slammed the bathroom door, several sets of clothes in her hands.

She slipped into a pink halter-top, and a wrinkled & white, half-sleeve, collared button-up shirt over the top. A light blue, denim mini skirt and pink flip-flops topped it all off. She pulled her hair up into a tight bun and decided to skip make-up, having only 10 minutes to get to school.

Serena Tsukino is a warmhearted, beautiful girl with long, thick, blonde hair and crystal blue eyes, always filled with warmth and love. She doesn't do well in school, but has many friends and enjoys being at school all the same, being a senior about to graduate and all. But it just happens that this is her fifth year being the leader of the legendary sailor scouts, Sailor Moon. She is deeply in love with Tuxedo mask, her savior when in danger, and still lives a perfectly normal life. When in uniform as Sailor Moon, she wears her hair in odangos (pigtails). Once, while in human form, someone almost recognized her as Sailor Moon, so she chose to wear her hair other ways to keep it secret.

Serena walked out of the white-pearl bathroom and into her pink, wonderland of a room. If you were to walk into her room, all you would think about is pink, fluffy animals. She placed her locket around her neck and smiled at herself brightly in the mirror, then ran/fell down the stairs and into the oncoming daylight. Her parents yelled a "good bye" but she was out of sight before 'good' even escaped their lips.

As she hurried along the sidewalk, a raven-haired man with a thick, broad chest stepped out in front of her. Serena couldn't put on the brakes quick enough and went flying, headfirst into the man. She whimpered a little as a cut on her knee began to bleed, and her forehead throbbed from the impact of the man's chest. "I'm so sorry sir." She began, but gorgeous, midnight blue eyes stared into hers. Her cheeks became red with embarrassment as her eyes repelled his stares.

"Meatball-head, what a surprise running into you. I'm guessing you're late for school, but would you mind warning me next time you're thinking of pedestrian trampling?" He sneered, his lips curling and flashing pearly-white teeth.

"Shut it Darien Chiba", she snapped, shoving him out of her way curtly and running full-out the rest of the way to school. She puffed her last breath as she wearily opened the glass-plate door into a dimly-lit hallway.

'Maybe the bell isn't going to ring for a few minutes' she thought promptly to herself as she coasted along the hallway and looked up at a clock. 7:30 She was late once again to her class and regretted shutting her alarm clock off. She sighed and opened the door quietly, or at least until it rusty hinges gave a loud squeak and the teacher stared icily into Serena's eyes.

"Late again I see, Ms. Tsukino. I guess a month's worth of before and after-school detention will ensure your arrival to class on time." Mrs. Haruna barked. She pointed a shaking finger at an empty desk and spat, "Sit!" Serena slumped glumly into her chair, her face burning with anger as she listened to Mrs. Haruna drone on about W..

Her day did not get any better: she forced tears back when she got her English and Chemistry test back, both marked with bright red F's. If at all possible, it got much worse when the scouts found out about her detentions and told her she wasn't allowed at the meetings until she showed some improvement in school. All Serena could manage was to look like a fool with her mouth hanging wide open, full shock taking hold of her.

After the final bell rang, she sluggishly walked to the front office to turn in her slip of tardies in which she received a punch card to give to the detention officer (The officer punches out a place every time she shows up for detention). She stopped by the officer's room and handed the punch card to him. He smiled carnivorously behind her back, as she stalked out of the room.

Serena threw her tote bag against the stand and sank huffily into a chair at the Crown Arcade. Andrew stood up behind the counter and leaned in towards her to let her know he was there. She gave a halfhearted smile and said plainly, "Bad day".

He chuckled empathetically and gave her a hot-fudge sundae. "This should cheer you up. It's on the house." He grinned and ran his fingers through his thick blonde locks as Serena gulped it down hungrily, leaving a chocolate mustache on her upper lip.

"I can't believe my friends would actually abandon me!" She blurted out finally. Andrew listened intently as she explained everything that happened that day frantically (She left out the part about not being allowed at meetings of course). "I'm sure they were just...um...disappointed in your grades. They know you're a hard-working girl, but you just don't seem to care about school as much as you used to."

"You think I'm hard-working?" She blushed slightly, having liked Andrew most of her life, and having him compliment her was a big deal for her.

"Of course I do." He ensured her with a playful wink. He disappeared into the kitchen again, leaving Serena with a girlish smile on her lips.

"Hey Meatball-head!" Came a gruff voice from behind her. Serena wanted to flare off at him this time but with everything Andrew just said, it didn't seem worth giving up the moment.

"Hi jerk." She greeted him with shallow eyes. "Why do you always show up everywhere I go?" She growled, as a menacing sneer replaced her smile.

"I don't know, it must be the work of the devil," he smirked as Serena rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"Oh, so it's your own idea eh?" She teased, Darien catching on after a moment of contemplating what she just said.

"Haha!" He growled back at her, watching her eyes grow mysteriously foggy. 'She really needs to learn how to eat like a civilized human' he smiled inwardly. He took a napkin and smashed it against her choco mustache.

Serena glared daggers at him and wiped her mouth, while muttering "Brainless pig, scum of the earth, argh I can't stand him," under her breath.

Serena crumpled up and dropped the napkin into his lap and skipped off towards her house, feeling better about letting off some steam on the one person she 'hated' the most. "That Darien Chiba had better watch it, one of these days I'm just might murder him, and I know no one will come to his funeral." She nodded her head in agreement with herself and halted to a stop at her front porch. "If I could survive one more minute..." she cringed at the thought of telling her parents her grades, as she slipped inside the house.

An explosion of hollers and frustration came from the Tsukino house. Serena had told them what her test grades were and to top it off, she told them she had a month's worth of detention.

With her ears still ringing, she dragged her body upstairs to her room. When she opened the door, a furious hairball knocked her onto the floor. "Why did you get kicked out of the scout meetings for the rest of the month?" Her furious feline, Luna, screamed at her. "I got a month's worth of detention for being late from that damn teacher, Mrs. Haruna. She must have gotten dumped by that old, gruffy guy she was dating." Serena huffed, making up excuses why she wasn't the one to blame. "It's not her fault you don't know how to wake up!" Luna hissed, digging her claws into Serena's sensitive skin. "I get it, I'll get up on time OK?" Luna rolled her eyes in disgust, snorting at thought of Serena being on time.

Serena let a tear slip from her swollen eyelids and ended up bawling herself into a short depression. She slipped out of her soaked clothes and took a hot bath, trying to settle herself down. Lavender aroma therapy gave her a sense of delight as she settled into the steaming water. After soaking to the pruning point, she dragged herself out and dressed in silky, pink nighties and nestled under her warm covers.

That night, her dreams were filled with Tuxedo's smirking face, sometimes smooth and handsome. His perfect lips planting a kiss on her pouts, and her heart fluttered with a real flame. She mumbled Darien's name in her sleep, and she snored the rest of the night away.

I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! ~Kukaburry


	2. To Be or Not

Love Me or Forget Me

Sailor Moon Disclaimer

By Kukaburry

Chapter 2 To Be or Not

After waking up at 5:00 am by Luna screeching, stubbing her toe on her desk, being blinded by hair spray and downing a rushed and cold breakfast, Serena felt worse than ever. She trudged to school, mascara smeared over her left eye, carrying a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in her hand. This was the first time in Crossroads High school history that Serena Tsukino would be on time for detention and for her first period class

Mr. Solander, the detention officer, who was only twenty-two years old, had thick black hair, and emerald green eyes. He held his arms powerfully across his muscular chest as he watched with attentiveness, the blonde beauty in the second row. She curled her hair with her finger, nervously looking up from time to time into the placid green eyes. Her eyes bore a hole through the clock, as if it would make time jump ahead an hour. The only noise in the small and dingy room was the tapping of a pencil on the desk by a greasy-haired boy in the back of the room.

After what seemed like an eternity, the first period bell rang and Serena's heart leapt at the thought of impressing Mrs. Haruna with an early entrance. Her thoughts were cut short as Mr. Solander called her to his desk as everyone else filed out of the room. "If you will stay late tomorrow and Thursday afternoon to help with..um..cleaning, I will wipe a whole week's worth of detention off the record." He offered, smiling kindly to encourage her answer. "Well, I'll ask my parents if it's OK, but I'd be glad to help." She grinned and bobbled out of the room, leaving Mr. Solander, smirking.

Mrs. Haruna's heart stopped momentarily when Serena pranced into her classroom three minutes before the tardy bell rang. "Mrs. Tsukino, I see the detentions are already having a drastic impact on you!" She teased, happy that Serena had changed something after all. 'This is only the beginning' she thought happily to herself.

After a surprisingly interesting history class, Serena met up with her friends who congratulated her for being on time for once. Her friend's names are Amy Anderson (17), who has bluish black hair and is the smartest girl at school; and who also happens dates the geekiest guy at school, Greg (18). Rei Hino (17), a fiery raven-haired girl who goes out with a pop-star named Chad (20). Lita Kino (17), who's the best chef in history, according to Serena, and also someone who won't be pushed around easily; who dates her Karate Master, Ken (19). Finally, Mina Aino (18) who obsesses over every cute guy that Serena has ever liked.

Mina chatted with Serena about Andrew. "He is so dreamy Serena! I can't believe he talked Lizzie into working at the arcade!" Mina exclaimed as she stuffed a piece of cake into her mouth. Serena giggled and flipped her hair as two guys walked by her, and winked. This would have impressed them if she hadn't managed to knock over her milkshake with her elbow all over the floor. The guys just guffawed and left Serena sitting there as Mina giggled helplessly.

"Amy, could you help me with these Algebra problems? I don't get them!" Serena whined while turning a pout face on Amy, deciding to ignore the milkshake. "Let me see, you divide the square root by two, see? Then you square it and that takes away the square root. Are you following me?"

Serena stared and gave out a "humph" sound and said, "I'll never understand math! I'm the oldest person in my class and all of them have higher averages than me." Amy gave a small smile and helped her with the rest of her homework. Serena went through the rest of the day without any problems until detention, which she suffered two more hours of staring from Mr. Solander.

On the way home, she decided to stop by Molly's apartment. She knocked softly and a muffled "Coming!" came from behind the door followed by short laughter. Molly's shining face appeared and a screech came from her lips. "Serena! Hi! I'm so glad you came to visit! I haven't seen you in so long!" Long arms wrapped around Molly's middle and from behind thick glasses, Melvin's big brown eyes could be seen glaring at her. "Hello." He said stiffly, making Serena feel guilty about telling Molly not to date him.

"Hello Melvin," she replied squeakily, dropping her eyes to the floor and becoming extremely interested in a wad of gum stuck to her shoe. "I'm sorry you guys. I was wrong to say that about you Melvin. You're a wonderful friend and an even better boyfriend to Molly." Serena spoke purely, hoping that he could finally forgive her.

"Do you really mean that Serena?" He asked, brows furrowing in clear anticipation for her answer. "Of course I do. You're the best thing that's ever happened to Molly." She choked out, looking from Melvin to Molly quickly.

"I'm not saying I forgive you but, I guess we can be... friends?" Serena sighed and thanked him. She didn't feel like intruding anymore so she said her farewells and descended the stairs, listening to the door shut and muffled moans coming from inside the apartment.

She shuffled along the sidewalk, staring down at her shoes, when a glass door slammed her in the face. Her vision blurred then, like a television being turned off, everything went black.

Serena opened her eyes slowly, eyes adjusting to the bright light. A thick heat was surrounding her, she rubbed her head into hard cloth, inhaling a powerful but wonderful aroma. She turned her head up and saw two blue, taunting eyes looking down at her. She realized the hard cloth was someone's knee and the smell was the person themselves.

Serena screamed, realizing who the person was, and suddenly felt sick to her stomach. She bent forward, stomach retching as if something was stabbing its way out, and heaved a deep breath. Two strong arms held her steady as she began shaking.

"If you throw up, that means you have a concussion. I didn't think I hit you THAT hard meatball-head." A masculine voice spoke, sending shivers down her spine. Not feeling like arguing with him right then, she simply wrenched herself out of his grip and carefully walked towards a counter.

She was inside the arcade, and not knowing nor caring how she got there, she sat down on the stool and rang a small bell. "Coming!" She heard from in the back room.

"Serena! You're OK! Thank goodness, after I saw you smash into the door and not move, I thought you were in a coma!" Lizzie, Andrew's little sister, cried, reaching over and hugging Serena. 'Was I out that long?' Serena thought, but shook her head and asked, "Can I get a double of the usual please?" Lizzie walked off to get Serena's milkshake when Darien slid into the seat next to her.

"So, don't I at least get a 'Thank you for helping me' Meatball-head?" He asked, mouth thinning as he awaited her answer.

"Thanks for helping me Darien, I would have expected you to leave me sitting out there." She smiled, letting him know that she really was thankful. Right then, a delicious looking, chocolate and whipped cream milkshake appeared before Serena's nose. "Ooooh, yummy!" She squealed, sipping the chocolate childishly.

Darien grinned and tipped the milkshake into her face. "ARGH! Look what you did jerk!" Serena yelled pointing at the large chocolate stain on her school skirt. She angrily curled her fist, and punched him square in the nose. She left him sprawled on the floor, clutching his nose in agony, with a slight smirk on her lips.

"Mom, Dad, Sammy, I'm home!" Serena shouted at the top of her lungs. Sammy laughed at the mess on her shirt and Serena chased him around the living room, which ended when she tripped over the coffee table while lunging at her little brother. Sammy stuck his tongue out and ran up the stairs and into his room.

Serena, red in the face, stumbled into the kitchen and found her mother making carrot soup. "Mmm, smells good mom, can I stay late in detention and help with cleaning for two days? The officer said that if I do, I get a week of detention taken off." Serena panted, finishing everything she had to say in one sentence. "Of course dear, but did you tell the officer you don't know how to clean?" Her mother joked, poking Serena in the stomach.

Serena smiled sheepishly and gathered herself a bowl of soup, eating it quickly then running upstairs to finish her homework for the first time in a month.

As Serena sat down to study, a jingle filled the air. Her dusty communicator had started to ring and she felt a tug of the other scouts transforming. "Oh no."

Another chapter finished. I hope you're enjoying the plot so far. The next chapter has a little bit of creepiness to it. ~Kukaburry


	3. And We All Run in Circles

Love Me or Forget Me

By Kukaburry

Sailor Moon Disclaimer

Chapter 3 - And we all run in circles

Serena rifled through her bedside table in search of her communicator. She finally discovered it hidden beneath a small pile of magazines and hair products. 'When's the last time we fought against anything?' she mused to herself. She hastily flipped the compact open to reveal the bright and shining face of Amy. "What's the problem?" Serena asked 'sort of' enthusiastically.

"Some unwanted company seems to have presented itself in the park." Amy stated with a look of boredom.

"Be there in a jiffy" Serena confirmed as she shut the compact with a snap and touched her pendant with her forefinger. "Moon Prism Power!" She bellowed. A blinding white light took over her body and moments later, standing in the place of Serena, was Sailor Moon. She wore a short blue fuku with knee-high red boots and a cute tiara pinned between her odangos.

"Hurry up Serena!" Luna hissed angrily as Serena checked herself in the mirror.

"Alright! Alright! You don't have to get all prissy at me Luna. I have to look my best for any cute guys I might run into." She growled in response. She winked and blew a kiss at her reflection and took off through her window towards the trouble brewing in the park.

Rei, Amy, Lita and Mina also known as Sailor Mars, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Venus had already arrived and were staring at the innocent people lying on the ground motionless. "W-what happened here?" Rei wondered aloud. Suddenly, a horrid smell reached their noses, sucking all clean air from their lungs like a vacuum.

"Sheesh Luna! I told you to take a bath!" Serena joked as her eyes began watering from the putrid stench. "Who dares challenge me?" A raw female voice cackled from within the fog. "I am Vlania and I am here to drain you of your energy!" Seconds later, a pile of trash paired with two arms and legs and the ugliest face one could ever imagine stepped within eyesight. With every step, the smell grew ranker and viler to the point where Serena felt nauseous. "I-I-I am—S-Sailor Moon!" she choked out, panting with every breath. "I am the champion of justice and peace. In the name of the moon- cough I shall PUNISH you! _Someone_ needs to take out the garbage around here."

"Eat this moon brat!" Vlania screamed and attacked Serena with a trash tentacle. "Sailor moon no!" Lita screamed. "Supreme Thunder Crash!" Hundreds of bolts flew from her fingertips into Vlania's outstretched arms, tearing them to shreds. Vlania screamed in rage and rushed Lita head-on, barely missing her long amber locks. "How dare you!" Roared Amy and Rei in unison. "Mercury Bubble BLAST! Mars Flame SNIPER!" They screamed as Vlania thrust her arms in their direction. Their attacks merely glanced off her chest as she grabbed their throats in victory and began to drain them of their energy. Amy and Rei cried out in agony.

"Pick on someone your own size!" Mina flared as she saw her two friends begin to fade away. "Oh, like you?" Vlania screeched as another arm shot and wrapped itself around Mina's neck. "No Sailor Venus! You can't pick on my friends like that!" Serena cried pitifully, taking off her tiara standing in ready position. "Moon Tiara Stardust!" The tiara glowed briefly, flying from her hand and impaling Vlania's stomach. "You cannot defeat me!" She groaned as she felt her strength wane. Using her last source of energy, she launched spikes at Serena's feeble form.

"Ahhhh!" Serena screamed as she watched the spikes fly towards her throat in slow motion. Suddenly a rose shot from high above, striking the center of Vlania's heart, stealing her of her last ounce of life. "I have failed you my queen!" Were her last words before she dissolved into an ugly memory.

Serena looked upwards toward the cover of the trees and sure enough, standing proudly on the branch of an oak was her masked hero. "Oh Tuxedo mask! You saved us!" She moaned lavishly, blushing a deep shade of magenta. She couldn't help notice how his deep blue eyes shown from behind his white mask, making her feel weak in the knees. "Thank you my caped crusader", she giggled nervously, batting her eyelashes sweetly in his direction and swaying back and forth like a love-struck puppy.

"It is my honor to safe-guard the sailor scouts and their leader Sailor Moon. Remember, I will always be there to protect you Sailor Moon", and with that, he pulled his cape to his face and washed away into the night.

Serena fanned herself with her hand and finally fell to her bottom as her knees buckled beneath her. "Boy can that man wear a cape", she swooned as the rest of the scouts rolled their eyes to the stars and groaned.

"Was I the only person who noticed that his nose looked swollen?" Amy asked apprehensively, looking down at her shoes. "Who cares about his nose? I was more entranced by his sexy eyes and fantastic body. Amy, you need to start looking at the better parts of people. Wait, that's why you're with Greg isn't it?" Serena babbled, still grinning like an idiot.

"Greg happens to be a very sweet guy", Amy confirmed haughtily, narrowing her eyes as Serena continued to babble about Tuxedo Mask. "I don't see you with any guys Serena. Maybe you're just jealous that we all have someone and you don't."

These words stabbed a deep wound in Serena's heart and Amy instantly regretted saying it. "Look Serena, I didn't mean that. You'll find a good guy someday." She assured her. "No Amy, you're right. You all have fantastic, sweet, cute boyfriends and I've got…. Uh….Luna."

"Excuse me… am I suddenly a nobody?" Mina interrupted testily. "I for one, don't have a boyfriend either. Don't I count?"

"NO!" They all chorused in unison. Mina was well known to date a new guy every week, but her main goal was to get the attention of the arcade manager, Andrew. Everyone knew she had a huge crush on this guy, but he didn't seem to notice her charm.

After the giggling had subsided, Lita turned to Serena and asked, "So Sere, how was detention today?"

Serena burst out with her hatred for Mr. Solander, "He's soooo creepy! All he does is stare at me while I'm in there and today, he asked if I could stay later for two days and he'd clear me for a week's worth of detention!" She paused, catching her breath.

"That doesn't sound like too bad of a deal. Three extra hours versus a week of detention! Serena, he can't be_that_ bad." Rei chided, smirking at Serena's narrowed eyes.

"To you it might not seem that bad, but I'll have to suffer through his staring even longer!" She moaned pitifully.

Mina cocked her head to the side and thought of a devious plan, but kept her mouth shut. "Oh don't worry about it so much Serena! Just grind your teeth extra loudly and don't look him in the eye," Lita said, shrugging her shoulders suggestively. Serena simply nodded and stared at her feet.

"I don't mean to be a party-pooper but I'm beat and I have tests tomorrow." Serena scratched her head and yawned loudly. Nobody moved a muscle after hear the word 'test' and 'sleep' from Serena Tsukino. "What?" Serena asked loudly, moving from one blank face to another. "I thought you guys wanted me to actually PASS this year!" She demanded, stomping away from their still-immobilized bodies.

Serena finally had the sense to de-transform as she began her trek back to her warm, fluffy bed and loud, annoying cat. "They are absolutely right. I need to find myself and nice guy. Preferably dreamy and gorgeous and completely adorable but I could manage with simply cute." She began to talk to herself about what guys she would date at her school. She became so caught up in her thinking that she nearly ran into a light pole right in front of her. "Whew, that was close"

Suddenly, she saw movement down the end of the block. It was a tall, dark-haired man wearing an extremely well-tailored suit and carrying a jewel-studded walking stick and top hat. 'Oh my goodness! He looks exactly like tuxedo mask! My love! My joy! Wait, what if it IS Tuxedo Mask? AH! I have to find out!'

With that thought, she began an all-out sprint down the block in order to catch up with this well-dressed man. The man turned slightly at the sound of footsteps behind him and began to quicken his pace in order to outrun his pursuer. Serena became frustrated when she saw that she was no longer gaining on her prey and forced her legs to pump harder. She saw his head disappear around a curb and followed in pursuit.

Right as she swung around the corner, she plowed head-over heel into an extremely uncomfortable body. "Do you enjoy pummeling me meatball-head or are you just THAT clumsy?" A discomposed Darien Chiba asked as he rubbed his sore head. He was wearing a flannel green jacket and brown trousers that now had a rip on the side. "Why do you always show up wherever I am creep?" Serena retorted, seething with anger and disappointment. "Why are you out this late anyways buster? Are you robbing old ladies of their piggy banks again?"

"I might ask you the same question 'Oh-innocent one'." Darien chided smirking at the guilty look on her face. "I'm on my way to a private party for your information. Why were you running anyways? Were you chasing someone because right before you creamed me, some guy in a suit barreled right past me on the street." He looked at her curiously to see her response.

"I was running from some guy who looked um..homely on the street back there." She lied, scrunching her nose at him in agitation. "Are you going to sit there all day or are you going to help me up?" She questioned him regally.

Darien looked behind her at the empty street. "I should be the one making YOU help me!" He roared, outraged that this brat could be so selfish. "You're the one who was running with your head down, not me, plus there's no one there."

"Maybe you shouldn't walk on this side of the street anymore Darien. Less of you could be better for both of our minds. You know, you might want to have that nose of yours checked out, it's not looking too hot." She smiled innocently and jumped up from her squatting position and began to trot down the alleyway to her house, yelling over her shoulder, "See you later you night creeper. But hopefully not."

Darien swore silently to himself, slowly picking himself up from the pavement. He grumbled, "I wouldn't have this damn broken nose if it was for you!" He then backtracked his steps a block and hopped into his Lexus then speed away down the street.

Told you, sorta creepy. As always, love and reviews are always welcome. ~Kukaburry


	4. Happiness is an Illusion

Love Me or Forget Me

By Kukaburry

Sailor Moon Disclaimer

Chapter 4- Happiness is an illusion

Once again, Serena Tsukino woke up before her alarm clock sounded. Even her feline friend was amazed by her will to impress her friends, parents and teachers with her new-found charisma. "Serena, I believe I have underestimated you for a long time. I'm impressed with your new outlook on work." Serena gave Luna a genuine grin and dressed quickly in order to make it to detention on time.

She skipped a long and cheerful path to her school, humming a jingle to herself. As she passed the University building, a familiar, gruff voice called out to her. "Hey meatball-head! Wait up, will you?"

It was Darien Chiba, come to torment her cheerful grandeur once again. "What do you want Chiba?" She sighed, annoyed at his constant unwanted presence. "Andrew gave me a message last night at the party and he said to tell you to go see him this afternoon after school." Darien puffed out his chest with pride at being trusted to deliver a message.

"I have detention after school. Tell him I'll see him afterwards." She replied with very obvious lackluster. "No can do. He said to be there at four o'clock on the dot or the meeting will be useless," he stated pointedly.

Serena pondered to herself silently, 'Well, I could tell Mr. Solander that I can't stay late today and I'll make it up later….hopefully he'll understand.' "Ok Chiba, tell Andrew I'll be there! Gotta run, I don't want to have to make up another detention!" With that, she went trotting down the street.

As she entered Mr. Solander's room, a sensation of a rock dropping in her stomach overcame her. She realized that she was the only one in the room that day. "Good morning Serena!" He greeted her cheerfully, spreading his arms wide in welcome.

"Is it? I haven't noticed. Yes, I guess it is a nice day out." She commented lazily, selecting the seat closest to the door and furthest from Mr. Solander.

"Now, now Serena, I won't bite. Why don't you take a seat closer up here? We could chat about stuff," he smiled innocently, "as long as you don't tell the principal I've been breaking my own rules." He chuckled at his little joke and urged Serena to move closer.

With her teeth clenched and a stiff spine, she took up her book bag and sank into a seat closer to the front but still a comfortable distance from him. "How do you like getting up early every day Mrs. Tsukino?" He asked, leaning forward on his elbows, piercing her with yet another stare.

"Oh, I'm getting used to it, it's good practice for me really." She said truthfully.

"Oh no doubt about that. I hear you've never once, in the entire time here in high school, made it to your first class on time besides yesterday. You were the talk of the lounge room young lady." He meant for it to sound like a compliment but it came out sounding more like a joke.

"All I want to do is pass my classes and go to sc- uh.. social gatherings without my friends ragging on me all the time," she groaned into her arms, head spinning with lack of sleep from the night before. "Actually, I should study for my history test first period," she squeaked, finding an opportunity to escape his vicious stare.

"An excellent idea Mrs. Tsukino, I'm sure you'll do well on it," he claimed, attempting to sound encouraging but feeling annoyed that he'd no longer be able to talk with her. 'I won't let that stop me' he smirked to himself.

"What is the test on?" He questioned innocently.

"Oh, just some war in the early 1900's. That's all." She ensured with an air of boredom, burying her nose in her book and pressing her hands to her ears to block out any unwanted (his) voices.

Mr. Solander raised an eyebrow in interest. "I'm guessing you mean World War II?" He inquired, taking in her scent with relish. "Yeah something like that, some war with a lot of people in it. I'm sorry, I'm trying to concentrate sir if you don't mind," Serena bit back the venom in her voice with great difficulty. He sighed, and leaned back in his chair, growling to himself. 'We'll see how quiet she is this afternoon after I'm through with her.'

The rest of detention was rather dull and uneventful. Serena popped out of her chair as quickly as she could when the first bell rang and practically sprinted out of the door before Mr. Solander could blink.

As soon as Serena reached her first class, she had the whole chapter memorized and felt a feeling of confidence that she had never experienced before. 'I'm going to ACE this test!' She squealed in her head. "Good morning Mrs. Haruna. I'm looking forward to the test today!" She announced loudly.

"Well Mrs. Tsukino, I'm glad you've been putting your detention time to good use. I have no doubt you will pass." She didn't say 'ACE' she said 'pass'. This show of lack of confidence in Serena pulled her from cloud nine to cloud eight rapidly.

The history test was a breeze for Serena and she walked into chemistry beaming at everyone and flipping her hair arrogantly. She received her quiz on Moles from the previous day and her arrogant ways vanished into the inky blackness of failure. "I… I got a 69! I totally understood everything on this section and what do I get for it? I get a freakin 69! What the hell," Serena raged, suddenly aware that several people had turned and watched her reaction. She looked towards Mr. Barnes, and a soothing feeling rushed over her, he hadn't seen her outburst.

"I'm going to have to ask Amy for some help. I can't fail another quiz or I'll be done for sure." Serena slumped glumly from class to class the rest of the day, once again hating time for always jumping ahead when she wasn't looking. Before she realized it, she was again sitting in front of Mr. Solander and suffering an intolerable smile that hugged his lips. The after school class detention was completely filled and she was the last person to walk into detention, therefore she was punished by being forced to sit directly in front of her perverted detention officer.

The minute hand seemed to be glued to the back of the clock because as Serena watched it, she swore it had stopped moving for several minutes now. Suddenly is sprang back into life and inched one notch ahead. Serena slammed her head to her desk in an act of unbelievable irritation. 'Why is God punishing me? Am I really that bad of a student?'

After what seemed an eternity, the clock hands read 3:45 and everyone was free to go. Everyone except Serena. She pushed herself lightly out of the chair and scooted nervously towards Mr. Solander. "Mr. Solander sir, I'm terribly sorry but I won't be able to stay late today. My mother became ill this morning and she wants me home to cook dinner and clean. I will of course be willing to stay late tomorrow, Friday and Monday to make up for it sir." With that little white lie of a speech said, she waited desperately to see what he would say.

"Of course Mrs. Tsukino, your mother needs you more than this room does. No more excuses after today young lady. Do I make myself clear?" Serena nodded her head vigorously and grinned then ran from the room towards the arcade.

As she reached the glass doors of the arcade, she realized that two giant wooden cases had been stacked against the door, denying anyone entrance. Luckily for her, there was a small sign taped to the inside reading 'Use back entrance'. She shrugged and turned the corner and found the metal door leading to the kitchen.

She pulled the door open and her eyes met complete darkness from within. A pair of rough hands grabbed her wrists and pulled her inside against her will. "Hey! Who are you? Let go of me!" She declared, trying to tug her wrists free from the strong grasp.

"Shut it meatball-head. There's no time, Lizzie is on her way here and everyone is here to surprise her. Now be quiet." Darien's husky voice rang in her ear.

"Why didn't you tell me that earlier? I would have bought her something!" Serena asked, angry that no one reminded her that it was Lizzie's birthday.

"Because, meatball-head, you have the biggest mouth on this continent and we couldn't risk you blabbing the plans to her." Darien retorted with a satisfied smirk.

"I wouldn't have said anything! I can keep a secret!" Serena snorted in a dignified tone. She heard several hushed giggles and mock coughs attack her from behind. She sighed in a defeated way and realized that Darien still had a strong hold on her arm. She pinched his right arm (or she thought it was the right) and heard an intake of breath and supposedly realization hit him because he dropped her wrists in a flash.

Scuffling feet could be heard from outside and a banging of something against the door- possibly a purse or a bag of some sort. Everyone held their breath as the door swung open and light penetrated the silky darkness. A hand searched for a light switch and suddenly the entire room was engulfed in light. "Surprise!" Came a tremendous roar from 20 people.

Lizzie stood there stunned, tears welling in her eyes at the thoughtfulness of her friends. "I.. I don't know what to say everyone. This is amazing!" She sniffed, delighted that she was in the company of people who truly loved her.

Serena rushed to her side and gave her a bear hug. "Happy birthday Liz! You're finally fifteen!" Lizzie just smiled and hugged Serena back, unable to say anything. The party lasted until eight o'clock. The entire stock of food was consumed down to the very last crumb. Serena was sitting in a chair, completely at peace when Mina plopped herself next to her.

"Hey Sere, this was a pretty good idea wasn't it? It got you out of extra time with Salamander boy." Mina giggled, smiling at her own craftiness. "You're the one who got me out that? I thought it was Andrew!" Serena cried, hugging Mina forcefully. "No, we had the party planned for a long time, but when I heard that you'd be late because of stupid detention, I thought I'd try to get Andrew to bail you out. He did a fantastic job didn't he?" She said lovingly, looking towards Andrew's laughing face with awe.

Andrew turned and saw the way Mina was looking at him and turned a deep shade of red to match his shirt. "Hey Mina, I think he likes you," came a gruff voice from behind Serena and Mina. "Sneaking up on people and listening to their personal conversations isn't a very attractive trait Darien." Serena hissed, not even bothering to look him in the face.

"Watch out Tsukino, you'd better be nice to me. I helped with your jail break as well. I wouldn't want your parents to find out that you've skipped extra detention." He said maliciously, leaning in between their two heads.

"And I wouldn't want that pretty face of yours to get more messed up than it already is Darien." Serena warned.

"Are you going to hightail it tomorrow too?" He asked wonderingly. "You can say that your mom is ill or something," he suggested. "Ha, well that's not going to work. I already used that excuse today. The slime ball actually believed it too," she cheered, laughing as Mina shook her head in wonderment.

Andrew appeared at Mina's side and gave a little cough to announce his presence. "Um.. Mina, could I talk to you for a minute in private?" Andrew asked, rubbing his neck awkwardly and shuffling his feet. "Yea sure!" Mina couldn't keep her excitement from showing.

As Mina disappeared into the manager room, Serena said out loud, " Well, now it's only me." Darien took Mina's spot and asked, "What do you mean? I'm still here." Serena clicked her tongue and shook her head, "No, I mean now I'm the only one without a boyfriend." Darien laughed and said, "What are you talking about? Lizzie doesn't have a boyfriend eith….oh…" he stopped mid-sentence as he saw Lizzie wrapped up in a chestnut-haired boys arms, as if they were having a tongue wrestling match.

"Oh no, you're absolutely right Darien. She's so obviously not taken. Mmm-hmm." She drew this out with a sarcastic tone and a mean glare. "Well she was single about an hour ago anyways," he continued, defending his ego as well as he could.

"Serena, even though I pick on you all the time, you know you can come to me for help. This detention officer of yours shouldn't be able to treat you like that. It's just not normal." Serena's head began to spin as Darien said this. He's never been that nice before, and she began to realize that he was right, it wasn't normal for her detention officer to treat her like that. She placed her hand on his arm. "Thank you Darien. That means a lot to me," and she meant it. "Do you have any ideas for how I could get out of staying late?"

Darien smiled and pondered. "You could say that you don't feel well. Or you have a project you need to finish. OR you could say that your mother became really ill and had to go to the hospital so you need to go straight there."

"I like that last idea. It goes along with what I said yesterday," she was extremely grateful for his help. "Thanks for looking out for me Darien. I should go. My parents are probably getting worried." With that, she patted his shoulder and said her goodbyes to everyone, not even noticing that Andrew and Mina were still locked in the manager room.

An elated feeling had crept into Serena's breast and settled there as she thought of Darien as a friend rather than an annoyance. "Maybe he isn't the self-centered prick I thought he was."

She reached home in what seemed to be record time and blew by her parents, kissing their cheeks, and hurried to her room. The sound of the communicator beeping snapped Serena out of her reverie. "Hey Amy, what's up?" She asked nonchalantly, looking at the dirt in her fingernails.

"Serena, we think something terrible has happened. Remember when Vlania said 'I have failed you my queen'? Well we think she was referring to Queen Trike." Amy didn't want to upset Serena with too much information.

"What? Not that ugly bitch _Tripe._I thought we sizzled her last year!" Serena groaned, hoping that it really wasn't her. "Scout meeting tomorrow after school then?" Serena asked hopefully.

"No, we're not getting you out of detention Sakura. You got your OWN self into trouble now you have to pay for it. The meeting will start at six. You had better be on time." Then Amy cut the connection with a fuming Sakura still staring at the blank screen.

"I'm not irresponsible! I'm just slow and forgetful! That's never been a crime." She huffed, throwing her communicator back on her nightstand and crashed onto her mattress. "I think Amy's right Serena," Luna voiced, licking her paw daintily. "Some friend you are." With that, Serena fell into a restless sleep filled with Mr. Solander's creepy stare.

Well folks! I hope this chapter was to your liking! I promise, MUCH more action is coming up in the next chapter. Don't worry.


	5. Evil Breeds Darkness

Love Me or Forget Me

By Kukaburry

Sailor Moon Disclaimer

Chapter 5- Evil Breeds Darkness

"SERENA! Serena! Serena! Serena! Serena!" Luna scratched Serena's shoulder. "What? What do you want fleabag?" Serena seethed, rubbing her shoulder. "Luna, now I have a really deep cut on my back! What are you doing anyways?"

"I have been trying to wake you up for the past _hour._" She emphasized 'hour' with a growling hiss. "Oh my god! I'm soooo late! I might miss first class! No!" She screeched, lurching out of bed, grabbing socks, a skirt, and a t-shirt and throwing them on without even bothering to look at herself in the mirror.

After quickly dressing, she grabbed her lunch off the counter, skipped breakfast completely and headed off to school in a sprint. "Oh my god, I'm going to have to suffer another day with that guy. Why didn't I hear my alarm this morning?" –groan-

Serena barely missed hitting Darien Chiba and said a quick 'hello' before going off again. "Hey meatball-head! Come to the arcade again after school!" Darien yelled loud enough for her to hear. "Don't I always go there jerk?" She flashed a grin without even slowing her pace.

Serena entered the school quickly and sighed with relief to see that several people were still milling around their lockers. 'I'm not late yet. Thank goodness.' She made her way quickly to Mrs. Haruna's class and screeched to a halt when she saw what was sitting on her desktop. The test paper. This was it. This was the moment when she would finally see if she would pass this class.

Heart racing, a thousands of thoughts crossed her mind -all negative- causing her to become even more nervous. She closed her eyes, slowly took the paper between her fingers and waited. She inhaled a deep breath and propped one eye open. She propped the other eye open quickly after. "I-I- I got an A!" She whooped, dancing in the spot she was standing.

Mrs. Haruna looked up for a moment and smiled at Serena's progress. "Yes, I must say I was surprised by how well you did Mrs. Tsukino. Fantastic job." Life was finally getting good. Amy was thrilled to hear about Serena's A. "I told you, you're a smart girl! You just need to study." Serena smiled sheepishly, but was proud of herself nonetheless.

When two-thirty rolled around, she couldn't feel more depressed. "What am I going to tell that guy? He's going to be really angry that I missed detention this morning." She entered the classroom early, and took a seat near the back. "I'm glad to see you finally remembered that you're being punished Mrs. Tsukino. We can have a little chat after detention is over." This was no threat, this was a promise. "Yes sir," she squirmed in her chair, refusing to even glance into his icy eyes.

After an extremely silent and uncomfortable hour and half, Serena was sweating like a pig. 'He's going to kill me. I know it.' She became paranoid, fearing the worst from this man.

"Mrs. Tsukino, come up here now." His voice was hard and demanding. "Please explain to me why you missed detention this morning." His body seemed to be waiting patiently but his eyes shown with fire.

"I was up until two this morning studying for my English and pre-calculus tests. I also had a project that needed to be finished for Chemistry." Ok, so the last part was a lie. What does that matter? It made her story sound sweeter. "I was so tired; I guess I slept right through my alarm sir. I am very sorry." She apologized, adding syrupy tone to her voice.

"That's fine Mrs. Tsukino, just do not make a habit of it. Of course that means you will have to stay after for an extra day as punishment right?" A hint of a smirk rose on his lips but disappeared just as quickly.

"Yes. Oh, and I can't stay late today either, mom had to be admitted to the hospital last night for an examination. –sniffle- I'm really worried about her." If Serena had a penny for all the cock-and-bull stories she made up that people actually believed, she'd be a millionaire.

"Oh my. Well of course you must go tend to your mother," he said with false sincerity. "But I do expect you to stay late tomorrow! We need to get this room looking clean or else I'll be in trouble with the cleaning staff." This made no sense to Serena what-so-ever but she didn't care. All she knew was that she had gotten off again.

She arrived at the arcade, and sat down at her favorite stool at the bar-front. "Hey there Serena! Manage to skive off another detention?" Andrew inquired, radiating with new glow that Serena knew had been caused by Mina.

"Yep. I love getting away with murder." She said sardonically, sipping her usual two layer chocolate milkshake. "You killed someone meatball-head?" Came a thick drawling voice from behind, "I never would have thought that someone so puny could achieve such a terrible feat."

"Oh no, Darien's getting cocky with his vocabulary Andrew. Do you think he's been abducted by aliens and given a real brain?" Andrew just raised his eyebrows and laughed at Serena's criticism.

"Don't go getting too proud of yourself meatball-head. I'm here to be your Chemistry tutor." As soon as Serena heard these words, she stuffed such a huge intake of ice cream and she very nearly swallowed her spoon. She hacked and coughed until the spoon flew from her mouth to the ground.

"You –gasp- what –cough-? I don't think so! Andrew, please tell me I'm imagining this conversation," she begged, pulling a pouty-lip face on him. "I don't think so Serena. You need the help in chemistry and Darien is just the man for that job. Well, I'll leave you two alone. Mina is um.. waiting for me in the back and I need to help her.. uh.. cleaning up the kitchen." Darien and Serena shot each other a skeptical look and grinned.

'I'm going to have to kill Andrew for this betrayal' she schemed to herself, hearing a cadence drumming in her ears. Darien planted himself in the seat next to her and took out several thick text books. Mainly physics books.

"Are you some kind of physics geek?" She asked scathingly, already knowing the answer. He was majoring to become a nuclear physicist in college. "Something like that," he chuckled, finally finding his chemistry book.

Serena took one look at it and jumped out of her seat. "No way am I going to read that dictionary of a book!" She began to back away towards the doors but Darien was quicker, he blocked the exit with his bulk. "I never said you had to read it meatball-head. I'm just using it as a teaching aid."

"Why can't I just go to Amy and get some help? She's the smartest girl at our school for crying out loud!" Darien shot her a look and she blushed slightly for yelling.

"You have a good point. But there was one person who scored higher in the sciences than even Amy. Can you guess who that was?" Serena scrunched her nose and clicked her tongue.

"You, oh mighty man of science?" He growled at her constant sarcasm and nodded his head curtly. "Yes princess, I'm not as stupid as you think."

"I never said you were stupid, stupid," Serena giggled, "I just happen to know for a fact that you were worst in your class at history." She threw him a confident smile as she said this.

"Oh, and I suppose you're the fairy of history?" He asked, knowing that she was lazy in all of her classes.

"I happened to get an A on my history test, thank you very much."

Darien actually allowed her and impress smile. "I guess you're not the dimmest bulb in the pack." He teased, pulling out some paper and a pen and opened the book to a section on Moles.

The tutoring began and the more Darien talked, the more Serena began to realize that he was actually fairly smart. He really had a passion for science, which would explain why he excelled in that area.

Darien was equally impressed with Serena's ability to pick up on concepts quickly. 'If only she would pay attention in class, maybe she would actually be passing.' He thought to himself, sad that some people had no passion for learning. As the session went on, the two of them inched closer and closer together until only a few inches separated their bodies. Both were too wrapped up in the world of chemistry to notice the close proximity they had created.

It was Darien who first noticed that they were close enough to suffocate each other. His face took on the appearance of a tomato and his body suddenly began to rain sweat. Serena felt warm suddenly and she looked up into Darien's face and saw flames jumping at his cheeks. "Are feeling okay Darien? You look kind of red," she stated naively.

She could really be a ditz sometimes. She poked him in the arm and he came back to reality. "Well, I think that about does it for today. Should I expect you at the same time tomorrow?" Serena groaned and told him about Mr. Solander. "He said he'll get me into big trouble if I don't stay tomorrow. He said he'll be in big trouble too if I don't stay."

Darien cocked his head to the side, "What was he talking about? The cleaning staff is supposed to _clean_the room, not yell at it for being messy. That sounds a bit weird. Look, don't worry about him, just say your mom's still sick and she needs your help. He can't prove otherwise." Serena agreed with him fully and slapped him on the back. "You're a pal Darien!"

Serena looked at her watch and saw that it read 5:50. "Oh no!" She screeched, nearly popping Darien's eardrums as she realized that she would be late to the scout meeting. "I have to go! I have an important meet- uh… date to go on! Thanks a lot, see you tomorrow!" With that little spectacle, she was gone, leaving Darien shaking his head in bewilderment.

Serena coasted to a stop as she reached Rei's temple, panting hard. "Well look at meatball-head. She's actually on time!" Rei said in a bemused voice from the entrance to the temple. "Give me a second, this is a historical moment for me, I want to savor it."

"Ha ha, very funny Rei," Serena laughed, embracing her friend in a hug. Serena shadowed Rei into the temple, taking in the heavy incense-laden air. The girls were circled around a table, their eyes attentive on Amy in the center typing vigorously on her mini super computer.

Serena stood behind Amy and curiously peered at the screen. 'Why do I bother? None of this makes sense to me-' her thoughts were interrupted by a shocked gasp from Amy.

"Oh…" she mumbled, as she continued to scroll down the screen. Her quick, agile fingers flew furiously on the keyboard. "This is not good…"

"What is it?" Lita chimed, hurrying over to join Serena over Amy's shoulder. "This is not good," she repeated. "There is an alarming amount negative energy emitting from an unknown source…as if it were from a…"

"From a what?" Rei jumped from her chair and glared in Amy's direction. "Well its silly…." Amy continued, throwing a skeptical look at the screen.

"Well it doesn't matter if its silly or serious all that matters is that it's a threat…so just tell us what it is!" Mina piped up, sounding almost as fired up as Rei.

"Ok…it just…it seems to me like its coming from a parallel universe." Amy said this with almost a chuckle; as if to emphasize that she hardly believed it herself.

Complete silence followed her words.

"Do you suppose Trike is behind it?" Serena asked.

"I just…don't know. Possibly…who knows…I'm not even sure if parallel universes exist-" Amy responded, and then was quickly interrupted by Rei.

"Well of course they exist!"

"But Rei, we don't know that—"

"You said parallel universe yourself—"

"It doesn't matter…what's most important now is we keep our eyes open. We can trust no one but each other…and even then…well, we just have to stick together."

This new information was a blow to all of the scouts. As if this information wasn't enough, Rei suddenly fell to the floor, hands clutching her throbbing temple.

Everyone gasped and hurried to Rei's side. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head, giving the girls a glimpse of the back of Rei's eyeballs. "She must be having a premonition!" Lita cried, holding Rei protectively in her arms. "Oh please wake up Rei!"

Rei's eyes flashed open and the girls heaved a sigh of relief. "What'd you see Rei?" Serena asked curiously, craning her head over Rei's face in gleeful anticipation.

Rei blinked a couple of times, almost not believing what she had just seen and announced in a whisper, "I saw her. I saw where Queen Trike is."

Ahahaha. Yes, that is where I leave off. The next chapter will be full of fluff between Darien and Serena. I promise it will be cute! Tata for now! Leave me reviews on how you like it so far! (I know these last few chapters have been boring. They'll certainly pick up soon.) Kukaburry


	6. The Color of Passion

Love Me or Forget Me

By Kukaburry

Sailor Moon Disclaimer

Chapter 6- The Color of Passion

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Serena stayed up three extra hours that night, imagining the details Rei had given about Trike's castle. The vivid details continued to creep through Serena's mind; even as her body protested with a dire need for sleep. A castle made completely out of white stone and marble. With thousands of acres of gardens and fountains with water so pure that any mortal to drink from them would become beautiful for a few short hours.

Serena began to imagine living in such a beautiful palace, but then remembered who actually resided there and her heart burned with hatred. 'How can such an ugly brute live in such a beautiful place?' She took a soothing breath and a curious thought occurred to her. 'Why does this place sound so familiar? It's as if I've had a dream about it once.' This was of course a silly thought and her lips curved in a dreamy smile.

Serena finally dropped into an uneasy sleep where she was walking with tuxedo mask through a forest; then she was with Rei and Mina dancing in a fountain of rainbows; then she was in a grimy kitchen serving Luna fresh fish on a silver platter while she, herself, ate cat food.

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The acidic sound of metal against metal drummed Serena's eardrums and caused her to wrench awake from her dreams. "Is it five already Luna?" She asked groggily, reaching her arms upwards towards the ceiling in a relieving stretch. "It seems so," Luna responded in a voice as drowsy as Serena's.

It took her no time at all to dress properly, so when she made an early appearance downstairs, her mother became slightly worried. "You feeling alright Serena honey?" She asked her daughter serenely. "I'm fine. What are you doing up so early mom? I thought you didn't go to work until eight," she asked slightly confused. "I just felt like making my daughter breakfast this morning for doing so well on her history test. That's all. Well, that and I don't feel well. I think I'm just going to stay home today sweetheart."

Serena gobbled down her eggs and toast with relish which caused her mother to giggle. "My, you are a growing girl aren't you Serena?" Serena gave her mom a Cheshire grin and burped in a petite manner. "Thanks a lot mom, I'll see you after school!" She blew a kiss and skipped through the door.

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"Is your mother feeling well enough today to allow you to finally complete your chores?" Mr. Solander gave Serena a penetrating glare that seemed to bore down to the very depths of her soul. "I'm not sure sir. She is still very weak." Serena hadn't even convinced herself with that, she doubted whether it convinced Mr. Solander.

"I'm afraid you're mother will have to wait today Ms. Tsukino, I have all the necessary cleaning products with me today and I expect you to stay after for a good two hours." Serena shuddered and wagged her head in disagreement. "I don't think so sir. I really should get home as quickly as I can today." Mr. Solander began to rise from his seat but the late entrance of another student forced him to regress back to his chair. "We'll discuss this after detention this afternoon Ms. Tsukino, now take a seat."

The last four words were spat at her with such a force that they sent Serena scurrying to the nearest desk for protection. She buried her head in her chemistry book, grinning in spite of herself at the section she had opened to; the periodic table and moles. Darien's help session had indeed boosted her confidence. She plowed through the difficult problems without even breaking a sweat. 'I'm going to have to remember to thank Darien when I see him today.' The sound of someone clearing their throats brought her back to the present. 'If I ever see him today.'

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She arrived at lunch smiling so brightly that Mina jumped right on Serena's case, "Who's the guy?" Serena looked taken-aback. "What are you talking about? Is it suddenly a crime to smile?" Mina narrowed her eyes and said slyly, "You only smile like that when you've met a new guy. Now spill meatball-head."

Serena ignored Mina's nagging and sat next to Amy. "How is it that someone like Darien Chiba can out-score you in science?" Amy bit her lip and frowned. "I can't be top in everything Serena. That's why I told Darien to help you with Chemistry in the first place; because I couldn't help you as well as he could."

Serena's jaw swung open as if something heavy had landed in it. "You did WHAT! You're the one who asked him to tutor me? I had to spend two hours with him and his smelly old textbook yesterday because of you! I would much rather have you be my tutor than that bone-head."

Amy sighed and shook her head, "I'm already your pre-calculus and history tutor, and since Mina is already your English tutor, and no one else likes science, Darien was the only other option. It looks like he was a good choice too since it seems as though you've finished your Chemistry homework for once." She picked up the homework from Serena and began to check the answers and nodded her head every once in a while. "Serena, would you believe it if I said that all of your answers are correct?" Serena stared at Amy indignantly, "So? Hmph...I still don't want to be stuck with boring old book-face."

"Did any of you hear that Sarah Lino and Christy Jones went missing yesterday?" Amy suddenly blurted. She had obviously been holding in this information since the beginning of lunch. Everyone at the table gasped slightly but their attention was once again stolen by a triumphant. "AH HA!"

"Hey, I know who the guy Serena likes is! You like Darien! Ha ha, see, I'm a genius." The cheerful voice of Mina rang loud and clear across the table. Serena opened her eyes wide, clenched her teeth and puffed out her cheeks but before she could reply, Lita butted in, "Yeah right Mina. Keep dreaming. If Serena ever liked Darien, it'd be a pretty chilly day in Hell." Mina and the rest of the gang had to laugh at this truthful assessment.

"There's nothing wrong with Darien! I think he's a hunk." Rei sighed, eyes glazing over in a dreamy stupor. "Is Chad not good enough for you?" Lita smirked, knowing that Rei was completely head-over-heels for her rock star sweetheart. "You said yourself you thought Darien was gorgeous." Rei bit back, sticking her tongue out at Lita.

"Well, that was before I met Ken! Even Darien Chiba can't hold a candle to that hunk of a man." Rei rolled her eyes and said, "I don't think so Lita. Darien Chiba could win the 'sexiest man alive' award without even leaving his apartment."

Amy coughed at this and said, "Well I for one think that choosing guys based on looks is shallow. I find Greg's intellectualness much more attractive than his face. Although," she paused and blushed, "Greg is rather handsome isn't he." She finished with a girlish giggle very un-Amy like indeed.

Serena was getting bored with the boy-talk. Not having a boyfriend to brag about just naturally causes people to become cold and distant with certain topics. She excused herself form the gossiping chicks and ended up arriving in her next class early. 'I guess he isn't all that bad looking. When his hair gets all messy and hangs over his eyes. Wait, this is jerk-face I'm thinking of here. Eww… -Mental kick- do not think about that Serena.'

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When Serena dragged her feet once again through the threshold of her miniature hell-hold, she felt a tingling sensation at the back of her neck. What was it? It was some kind of sign, she knew, but its meaning was completely escaping her.

The ever-efficient loudspeaker present above Serena's head rang victoriously, as if it knew that Serena was the only person in the room denied freedom from Mr. Solander's evil eye. "Ms. Tsukino, if you would." His voice was filled with something Serena sensed was equivalent rage. Yet it seemed as if rage could not define the hatred boiling in his veins at that moment. He seemed to reek of animosity. Serena swallowed the lump that had begun to rise in her throat with a loud 'gulp' and padded her way carefully to his desk.

"No more stories about your sickly mother today Serena?" He implored, eyes bulging and pounding along with the vein within his temple. "I made a quick call to the Tsukino residence, thinking that I'd talk with your father and sympathize with him about your mother. Low-and-behold, who should pick up the phone? 'Tsukino residence, this is Mrs. Tsukino speaking'." He mimicked her mother, voice dripping with venom. "How could it be possible for Serena's mother to be home from the hospital so quickly?" He sneered, pretending to wonder aloud. " 'Yes, Mrs. Tsukino, this is Mr. Solander, Serena's detention officer and I was calling to see if were feeling ok, but seeing that you're out of the hospital, I'm guessing you're feeling much better'." Serena knew what was coming next, although she wished she didn't.

"What a shock it was when I heard her response Ms. Tsukino. 'I don't know what you're talking about Mr. Solander; I've been stuck at work for the past two days from morning till night. I haven't even seen my children much less visit the hospital. Was Serena the one who told you I was in there?' And let me tell you Serena, she didn't sound the least bit happy. So I backed you up on this one. 'Oh no ma'am it must have been a misunderstanding at the front office. I'm just glad to hear that you're in perfect health'."

Mr. Solander's vicious glare was enough to cause Serena to want to disappear off the face of the planet at that very moment. Sink into the ground, become invisible, anything to hide the unbearable humiliation she was feeling right then. "Would you mind telling me what you were really doing, while you weren't cleaning my room Ms. Tsukino?" Serena blinked back tears and shook her head 'no'.

"Fine then. Get a rag from the bucket over there and start scrubbing you're pretty little hands off. You have a lot of work cut out for yourself. Lying to a teacher is a crime that cannot go without punishment. Since I'm a reasonable guy, I'll cut you a break. How does this sound; you clean two hours after detention for four days. I replace the detention I wiped from the chart for you, and tack another half-a-week on. Fair enough?" Serena was feeling so horrible at that moment, she could scarcely think, much less listen to his added punishment. She merely nodded her head feebly. "Good, it's settled then. Now **get** to work!"

While Serena labored diligently, she gain a stiff back, dirty fingernails, sticky shoes, and a wet and ripped shirt. Unfortunately for her, the rip was right below her chest area, giving Mr. Solander a perfect view of her curves. He licked his lips as he gazed through her shirt. The sinful thoughts he had created in his mind when he first laid eyes on this blonde beauty came swimming back with a vengeance. His breath came in quick successions and his hands became sweaty. He needed to rid his mind of these dirty thoughts, and he would use this girl to do so.

He pushed himself from his chair and swept to the back of the room where Serena sat scrubbing what looked like dirt from the carpet. She heard his quick steps nearing her and scrubbed harder at the stain, imagining that his creepy face was planted in the carpet. "You should make circular motions Ms. Tsukino, it will get rid of the stain quicker." He commented, not knowing why he was trying to make conversation with her, when all he wanted to do was fulfill his pleasure.

"Yes sir," he heard her mumble. 'It's now or never.' He thought to himself. He took a firm hold on her scrubbing arm and yanked her, disarrayed, off the floor. He saw her looking at him, eyes filled with horror, and wanted to slap that look off her face. Instead, he pushed her forcefully against the wall, and slammed his chapped lips against hers. He felt her hands curling into fists, and thrust them above her head, pinning them to the wall with his own.

'She's a handful' he thought, smirking to himself, 'this could be more of a challenge than I thought.' He left her pinned arms in the company of one hand, and used the other arm to slide his hand up her thigh, nearing her bottom. He could tell she was trying her hardest to scream, but he was too powerful for her. No matter how hard she thrashed her body and legs, he kept her pinned to the wall. He managed to rip her shirt more, so that it merely hung from a thin strap on her shoulders.

He forced her to open her mouth wider and enjoyed the feeling of her stiffen against him. He was so wrapped up in trying to explore her mouth, he didn't even notice that the door opened. He did notice someone was in the room with them, when he was suddenly yanked from Serena and thrown towards the board in the front of the room. He toppled over his desk and hit his head on his chair, becoming dizzy.

Serena, who had her eyes closed throughout the whole ordeal, slid down the wall and wrapped her arms around her legs and began to sob so hard, she felt as though she would never stop. "Shh Serena, its ok. He's knocked out, he won't bother you again."

She would recognize that deep, soft tone from anywhere. "How did you…. Why are you… Are you…. Darien." Was all she could manage through her choked tears. Darien placed a soothing arm around her fragile body, on the verge of tears himself. He couldn't believe this had happened to her. Serena threw herself into his arms and a fresh wave of tears sprang from an unknown tap deep inside of her. Darien, at first shocked, smiled and patted her back awkwardly.

The rustle of someone stirring behind the desk reached their ears and the blood in Darien's body began to boil with anger. "I'm going to finish this guy for good." He had barely gotten the last word out of his mouth when a flash blinded their eyes and a violent wind knocked both Serena and Darien over.

"You little bitch. I could have given you pleasures you've never even dreamed of, you could have forgotten this little incident had ever happened, but you decided to bring your boyfriend into the picture; and now, I'm going to have to get rid of you both." Mr. Solander stood up from behind the desk. He no longer even closely resembled a human. He had fiery blue hair, and nearly transparent skin. He wore a ripped black velvet vest and tight black pants. A hairy and most unattractive tail poked out through a hole in the pants, completing his bizarre and extremely frightening new persona.

"What? You act like you've never seen an energy harbinger before!" He cackled in a very high-pitched and thoroughly non-human voice. "It is a pity Serena, you really are very beautiful. But you will be very dead in a moment." A fleeting thought crossed Serena's mind 'Sailor Moon could handle this.' She flashed a quick look at Darien who seemed to be too shocked to move. 'Maybe he won't see anything. He looks pretty dazed to me.' She took the pendant from her secret holder and raised it above her head. "Moon Prism Power!"

Darien, who had been in deep contemplation, suddenly teetered on the bridge of losing consciousness. 'Did she just say what I thought she just said?' He scarcely dared to believe his ears, so he turned his head slightly to take in Serena's miraculous transformation. There indeed, standing exactly in the spot meatball-head Serena had been standing, was the champion of justice, Sailor Moon!

"Darien, I want you to leave right this moment. This is no battle for you." Serena commanded, taking her tiara off and concentrating all her anger and frustration towards the disgusting face peering at her from the front of the room. "No Sailor Moon, I swore to protect you, and that's exactly what I will do."

Serena paled considerably and her heart stopped for one mind-bending moment. Darien was placing his top hat upon his beautiful black tresses while securing a white mask and black cape. 'Oh god. Oh god oh no! My caped crusader! My masked man! It's Darien! I can't breathe. Oh no. Ok Serena, inhale, take a deep breath, you're imagining things. Just throw the tiara and run away from this nightmare as quickly as possible.'

"Oh, what a lovely surprise! My queen has been searching for you two and your little rag-tag buddies for a long time now. How lovely for you both to show up at the same time!" Solander whooped; his miraculous plan was fanning out before him, served on a silver platter. 'Oh how I will be praised by milady. She will give me powers beyond my wildest imagination!'

"You're not going anywhere scumbag. Perverts like you need to be taught a lesson. I am the champion of justice and love! I stand for everything that is pure. I triumph over evil, and that means you!" Solander simply yawned at her little introduction and rolled his eyes. "Are you finished yet? I really must get going with my plans you know."

Serena cocked her wrists, tiara in hand, powerful words rising to her lips. She felt Darien pull a rose from beneath his cape and hold it in his hand, ready to strike in a flash. Suddenly, they both felt completely weightless, as if they were no longer touching the ground. When they looked down, that's exactly what they saw. Utter nothingness below, surrounding them on both sides, pressing down on them from every angle. Maniacal laughter piercing their bones like hot iron spikes. Then there was silence. Suspension-building silence. The air seemed to be holding its breath, every particle completely frozen in time.

Then there was a whoosh and both Serena and Darien felt as though they were being crushed in a juicer. Light began to feed through the steely grayness and air came rushing back to their welcoming lungs. A few moments later, they found themselves piled in a heap on dewy grass. Serena, who was the first to detangle her self from their embarrassing position, felt her jaw drop at what she saw. "Darien, I don't think we're in Crossroads anyone."

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Hehehehe. Oh I am so evil. Yes, I know. Hey, gotta have cliffys to keep the readers interested right:-p Yea, you know I'm right. Thank you to everyone who left me reviews on my last chapter! Keep it up! Thanks to those who added me to their favorites as well! It's an honor. Well, it's late. Hope you're looking forward to the next chapter! ---Kukaburry!


	7. A Taste of Destiny

Love Me or Forget Me

By Kukaburry

Sailor Moon Disclaimer

Chapter 7- A Taste of Destiny

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"Darien, where are we?" An utterly terrified Serena asked, de-transforming from lack of energy. Darien, who had been slammed to ground pretty hard, took a moment to orient himself. When he raised his head from the ground and took a good look around, he couldn't help but gasp.

They were smack-dab in the middle of the densest and most angry forest he had ever laid eyes on. He gaped at the enormity of the trees that suffocated the light. Only tiny shafts of light broke through the thick barrier, offering only a glimpse of their surroundings. Another odd trait about this area was the constant warm breeze. The tops of the trees stood perfectly still while around the trunks, the wind rarely stopped. It was very unnatural and the tingling sensation Serena had felt earlier, refused to be forgotten.

"I think this is what Sailor Mars was talking about! She said there were thousands of acres of gardens where Queen Trike was living. This looks like thousands of acres to me." Serena shared with Darien, offering only a small bit of information about where they were. "This can't be on Earth. I have never seen trees so tall! I've never seen orange vines like these growing on their trunks. I..I have also never seen a bird with four legs either." When Serena heard this, she spun around, looking in the direction he was looking.

There, standing shyly at the base of the nearest tree was a most curious animal. It seemed to be the cross of a sparrow and a puppy. It had four short, stubby legs and a long fanned tail. It also had two wings attached at its middle and a furry head that ended with a sharp beak. They were so entranced by its ludicrous appearance that they nearly had a heart attack when they heard it speak. "You appeared out of thin air. Are you both sorcerers?"

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"Try her again! That meatball-head must be napping again." Rei's agitated voice gnawed away at Amy's patience to the point where she felt very near to snapping. "She's not answering her communicator Rei, stop taking your anger out on me. Serena obviously doesn't have it with her."

"Whenever she does answer it, she's going to get such a telling-off, she'll never forget her communicator again." Everyone raised their eyebrows in Rei's direction. Even though Rei's threat was legitimate, they knew that Serena's meatball-brained ways were not easily changed. Their thoughts were suddenly changed when a harassed looking Luna ran into the temple, her eyes wide with worry. "Oh no! She's not here either! Where could she be?"

"Hey! Maybe she's still at the Arcade with Darien!" Mina chimed, eyes dancing with the thought of Serena and Darien doing more than just 'studying'. "That's a good point Mina. We should go check it out and pound meatball-head to a pulp for being so ditzy." Rei had a hungry look in her eyes, she'd like nothing better than to kick Serena around.

They reached the arcade quickly from Rei's temple and hurried inside, craning their necks for a glimpse of a blonde-headed meatball-brain. "Hi Andrew sweetie, have you seen a blonde meatball-head today by any chance?" Mina cooed, looking into Andrew's eyes enticingly. "Nope," he began to drool under Mina's charm, "Darien was here for a while waiting for her to show up. He thought something might be up with that detention officer of hers so he went looking for her at her school. I don't know if he found her or not, they definitely didn't come back in here."

"I know where they are!" Mina jumped up, raising her fist in the air. "Where Mina? Where are they?" The girls asked in unison. "They went to Darien's apartment! They confessed their un-dying love for each other and wanted to make out!"

The silence that met these words was so thick that it seemed sliceable with a knife. Every one of the scouts fell to the ground laughing hysterically; Andrew along with them. They clutched their sides and howled until they could scarcely breathe. Mina just stood with her hands on her hips and a grimace on her mouth. "What's so funny? It's possible," this caused a new wave of laughter and after several minutes, they rose from the floor, breathing heavily, attempting to catch their breath.

"Let's just go to the school first Mina. We'll check jail right afterwards…it's a more likely place to find them." Amy said, giggling once again. They left the arcade single-file, leaving Mina behind to say- kiss – her goodbyes to Andrew. 'I just know there's something between Serena and Darien. Why else would they bug each other so much?' She followed in her friend's footsteps towards Crossroads High School.

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"Did..did you just talk?" Serena inquired the little animal, squatting before it timidly. "It would seem thus since you seem to have heard the words coming from my mouth. Now are you both sorcerers?" The creature spoke in a _very_ deep and _very_ masculine voice.

"No we're not sorcerers! We don't even know any magic. We have no idea how we got here." Serena started becoming hysterical, tears slowly cascading down her face, "We don't mean you any harm little fellow. We just want to go home!" She took a deep shuddering breath and calmed her self down. She looked at the bird curiously and said, "How is it that you can talk?" Serena blurted out this question before she could control her thoughts and snapped her mouth shut.

"I used to be a citizen of a fine civilization here on the moon." The little sparrow-dog answered dryly, not looking the least bit insulted. Both Darien and Serena shot dumbfounded looks at each other, "We're on the moon? How is that possible? I thought there was no air on the moon," Darien questioned skeptically.

"Only beings from Earth would be so naïve to the ways of our kind. I guess I should tell you the story." He heaved a deep sigh and began, "We used to have a fair and just ruler named Queen Selenity. Her parents created a giant civilization here on the moon, trying to build friendships with other planets. They used some sort of magic that enables everyone within the civilization to breathe. This was a fantastic place, full of life and love. Then, there was Trike, who was jealous of Selenity's justness and gathered some followers and overcame our civilization, killing Queen Selenity. I don't know what happened to her daughter, Serenity, but I'm guessing she died along with her mother." A tear escaped the little sparrow's eyes. "That girl was the purest female I had ever set eyes on."

"Anyways, to keep any of us from interfering with her evil plans, she thought it would be funny to put spells on the people of the city and turn us into mangled animals with immortality. So here I am today, still a sparrow-dog, without a companion in the world." He ended with a pitiful whimper and ruffled his feathers.

Serena felt her heart go out to the poor creature and decided to pat his head. "I'm so sorry…um…do you have a name?"

"Yes, my name is Tybald. Roger Tybald." The little creature bowed on its front paws and Serena couldn't help but giggle. "My name is Serena and this," she turned her head towards Darien, "Is my friend Darien. We were brought here by one of Trike's evil henchmen."

The poor creature nodded his head solemnly. "Yes, I figured as much, since you seemed completely disoriented when I first came upon you two." Serena suddenly felt a burning sensation rise from the pit of her heart. "Tybald, I am going to make you a promise right here and now. I am going to help you by defeating Queen Trike and her minions. You have my word that I will try my hardest to free you." Darien grabbed Serena's arm and yanked her backwards towards him.

"What are you doing?" He seethed, "We don't even know if she's still here. How do we know she's not on Earth right now, taking it over?" Tybald cocked his head to the side and answered for Serena, "Because young sir, she was barred from ever returning to Earth by the force of a powerful curse." Seeing Darien's narrowed eyes, he furthered with, "News travels fast here. Many of the animals closer to the palace can hear her tantrums easily." Tybald seemed to smirk, if he had had a mouth.

"Who placed the curse?" Serena wondered aloud, not really expecting an answer. "The king of Earth, sir Raborteer. He is a most vicious ruler to his people, but has one of the most powerful armies in the history of that planet from what I understand."

Serena was impressed with how informed this little animal was, and decided to press her luck with one more question, "How is it, that Darien and I ended up here then? On the Earth we belong to, there is no King. Just many different rulers for all of the countries."

Tybald pondered this question and opened his beak to speak in a confident tone, "Maybe you were destined to belong to this universe. Maybe destiny chose a different path from the one you were leading previously." These words had a deep impact on both Darien and Serena, who looked into each others eyes expectantly but discovered the same confused stare looking back at them.

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The front doors of the school were unlocked and the ominously lit hallways looked deserted. "Let's hurry girls, this place is giving me the creeps." Lita said in a very uncharacteristically nervous voice.

They reached the detention room quickly, and realized that the door was already unlocked for them. "I'm getting a high negative energy rating guys." Amy quavered as she scanned her computer. "Let's transform, just to be on the safe side." They all nodded and took their compacts out. Seconds later, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Venus, Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Mars were poised and ready.

They entered the unlocked classroom and met an eyeful of destruction. "What happened in here? It looks like a hurricane came through here." Mina said, looking around in awe. "Yep, meatball-head was here. No one else can begin to clean a room and end up destroying it better than our Serena." Rei joked, causing everyone to smile, but the smiles never reached their eyes. "Looks like we've missed her." With that, they turned to leave but found a very unpleasant face blocking their way.

"Leaving so soon scouts? We've barely begun!" Solander's mocking voice coaxed viciously. "What have you done with Sailor Moon you scumbag?" Rei lunged forward, stopping barely inches from his appalling features. "She and her little boyfriend Tuxedo Mask have been…lets say…finished?" He cackled mirthlessly, yet he didn't show true confidence in his laugh.

"I don't believe you scar face. I think you know exactly where they are, and I think you're going to tell us or else face the consequences bust….ugh." Rei was slammed against the wall by a powerful punch from Solander. "Oh, I'll take you to your precious little friend; after my mistress gets done with you!"

Amy, Rei, Lita and Mina were suddenly sucked from their feet and sent spinning through a portal. They had no idea what they were heading towards, but it couldn't be anything good.

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"Can you lead us to Queen Trike's castle Tybald?" Serena asked hopefully, pleading him with her eyes to take them to her castle. "I most certainly know where to go, but I can only take you a certain distance, I'm afraid. Some territories of this disgusting forest have been taken over by many of the larger animals, and they don't like little creatures like me entering their domain."

"We need all the help we can get, even if it's only a few miles head start. We're grateful for all of it." Serena soothed. Tybald smiled genuinely at her and stretched his legs, "Well, we'd better start off now! It's a long journey, and you don't want to be caught in this part of the woods at night." Serena was about to ask why not, but kept her mouth shut and followed Tybald's retreating back into the darker reaches of the mangled jungle.

When they were far enough out of earshot of Tybald, Darien leaned towards Serena and whispered in her ear, "How do you know we can trust him? It's a talking animal for crying out loud. How do we know it's telling the truth?"

Serena gave him a stern yet thoughtful look, "We don't, we just have to trust the stars and destiny to guide us to our destination." Without another look at Darien, Serena trudged forward, step by step, towards her destiny and hopefully towards the lair of Trike.

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Hey there guys! I'm sorry this took longer than usual to write, my poor guinea pig died this morning and it is New Years Eve as well. I hope you enjoyed this section! Happy New Year! R&R. –Kukaburry!


	8. A Moment of Faith

Love Me or Forget Me

By- Kukaburry

-Sailor Moon Disclaimer-

Chapter 8- Moments of Faith

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The Sailor Scouts landed with a heavy –thump- in a very small and desolate room. The walls were a grainy white, while the floor was a tiled green color. The dust that had accumulated on the floor was almost five inches deep, so when the girls rose to their feet, they were sneezing and coughing to no end. "Ugh this is disgusting! –Achoo!- Have they never heard of the word 'cleaning' around here?" Lita growled, eyes tearing from her constant sneezing.

Amy whipped out her computer and began typing furiously. A click here, a click there, and she stopped. "Oh goodness. Girls, you're not going to believe this, but somehow we have been transported to the parallel universe I was telling you about. This computer is going haywire with information." As if to prove her words, the computer suddenly blanked and conked out with a small puff of black smoke.

"Looks like we're going to have to survive by seeing," Rei said gloomily, staring sadly at the forlorn computer. They all pricked their eyes up as the thick metal door was pushed slowly open with a groan. "Welcome ladies, to my humble castle."

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Darien and Serena walked side by side silently. Each thinking of what they could say to the other. The shock of finding out each others true identity was still too fresh in their minds.

Darien kept finding his eyes traveling down to Serena's stomach where her shirt was torn to shreds. He saw her shiver every once in a while as the wind changed from warm to chilly. "Here," he said, taking his cape off and handing it to her, "You need it more than I do."

"Thanks," she said numbly, grabbing the cape and wrapping it around her body. It was so large that managed to wrap it around her tiny figure twice. "Why do you stay like that? Why don't you de-transform?" This question had been nagging at her brain for the longest time now.

"I want to be prepared in case something jumps out at us." He said plainly, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "You know, I'm worried about the other scouts. What if something happens at home and I'm not there to help them. I haven't felt them transform yet… have you?" Serena asked, looking at him expectantly.

Darien gave her a surprised look, "I only feel when you transform Serena. I was sworn to protect Sailor Moon, none of the other scouts." This caused Serena's insides tighten unexpectedly and her body temperature to rise. "Oh…I didn't know.." she trailed off, feeling slightly embarrassed.

"Who are the other scouts anyways? I always had a sneaking suspicion that Rei was Sailor Mars. I mean, they both a really fiery temper, don't they?" Darien cracked a smile and Serena giggled. "Yes, Rei is Sailor Mars. Amy is Sailor Mercury. Lita is Sailor Jupiter and Mina is Sailor Venus."

Darien smirked when she said Mina's name, "Sailor V eh? Andrew's going to have a lot to look forward to." Serena smiled half-heartedly and they fell back into a somber silence.

"Darien?" Serena began timidly, not really knowing how to her question, "Do you think Serenity really died? I mean, it would be a waste to live here if she did, because we've been searching for her for a long time now."

Darien grunted, unsure of how to answer, and combed his hand through his hair. This simple action caused Serena's insides to jump and she had to look away for a moment to calm her self down. "I don't really know Serena. That was my mission also, to uncover the Moon Princess. If she's really dead, then you're right, staying here would be pointless."

"If you two find the princess, order would be restored and so would the silver crystal." Both of them jumped when they heard Tybald's voice, forgetting that he was there. "So you're not sure she died." Serena said, hoping she had heard correctly.

"I never saw her body, if that's what you mean. She could have escaped with her prince to another planet for all I know. I only know for a fact that they gave Queen Selenity a proper burial and everyone who was anyone, came to mourn." Tybald explained in a hushed voice, as if the conversation was too unbearable to speak of loudly. The pain in Tybald's voice was enough to erase Serena's questions.

After hours of walking, when the daylight had finally faded, Tybald came to a halt and sat down on his haunches. "I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted. It's not easy being small, you know. You don't have the stamina you do when you're a human." Serena and Darien shifted awkwardly in their shoes and looked anywhere but at the little sparrow. "We'll rest here for the night. It's relatively safe. It might be a good idea to start a fire, Darien; I feel a cold night creeping up on us."

Cold was not the best way to describe the wind that roared through the trees. Tybald would have been blown into oblivion if Darien hadn't had the sense to pick up the little creature and climb the nearest tree. Barely ten feet up the tree, the wind was suddenly non-existent; yet they could see the ferns below twisting this way and that with the freezing gusts.

Tybald jumped from limb to limb, finally finding a comfortable nesting place and curling up into a deep sleep. In the meanwhile, Darien and Serena were having trouble just finding a functional tree branch to lie against. They ended up clambering up several more feet, and relaxing on a thick branch.

'I still can't believe my knight is Darien! How can he be so caring when he's in uniform yet…be a pig-headed jerk in real life? But now that look at him, he has all the features of Tuxedo mask! A strong jaw, perfect lips, thick black hair, mysterious yet sexy eyes; not to mention a to-die-for body. He really is worth drooling over, I just never saw past that smart-ass grin of his.' Serena began to trace his jaw line with her eyes and daydream about her beloved Tuxedo Mask; aka Darien.

'The whiny, annoying, cry-baby, sarcastic, air-headed, clumsy Serena is my courageous, sexy, witty Sailor Moon. How is this even physically possible? I mean, Serena does have a fantastic body and cute face, but her personality is way different than Sailor Moons'. She must get serious when other people's lives are in danger. Meatball-head must have some kind of intelligence in her…you just have to coax it out.'

Their thoughts were interrupted by a loud and very human-like snore from the neighboring tree. Darien and Serena met eyes and began laughing quietly. "How do you do it Serena? How do you juggle school and being Sailor Moon? That has to be a pretty tough job." Serena nodded, but then realized he was being sarcastic. He had the same damn responsibilities as her, being Tuxedo Mask.

"You don't have a right to make fun of me all the time Darien. For your information, you don't show up at every battle we have. I have fought plenty more creatures than you have! I'm sorry I'm not a brainiac like Amy. If you want a girl who's a genius, go date her jerk!" She raged at him, not caring if he thought she was a whiny brat, which she supposed he did.

"You're cute when you're angry, Serena. No, I don't want to date Amy. I like girls who like to have fun and are just fun to be around. Being Tuxedo Mask, I always had a thing for Sailor Moon." With that, Darien raised his eyebrows and gave her a suggestive look.

Serena squinted her eyes and stuck her tongue out at him, causing him to chuckle. 'I like his laugh. It's all deep and rumbly.' She thought deviously in her mind. "Well I always thought Tuxedo Mask was one heck of a hunk," she said, smiling mysteriously.

"Oh, so you like Tuxedo Mask, but hate me, even though we're the same person? You have issues Serena." He gave her a childish smile, and she punched him in the arm. "You're more messed up than me. You're in love with Sailor Moon, a girl who's all grown up, but find me too silly. Isn't that right?"

Darien began to blush when the word 'love' escaped her lips. It was true; he was in love with Sailor Moon, who was also Serena, the girl he couldn't stand listening to. He figured Serena had a similar feeling towards Tuxedo Mask. How could two people so completely different, have two alter-egos that were remarkably similar and in love? Who was punishing them; and what had they done wrong?

Without even realizing it, Serena began to drift off to sleep, and laid her head on Darien's comforting shoulder. He turned his head and softened his eyes. He wrapped a securing arm around her shoulder and allowed her head to rest on his chest. "I don't get you sometimes meatball-head," he taunted, breathing slowly so as not to disturb her. "So what's new?" He heard her mumble into his shirt, and chuckled to himself.

They fell into a very peaceful sleep, being so close together, and dreamed of nothing at all. Unbeknownst to them, they were being watched by a very angry pair of eyes.

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Serena awoke, drool in her hair, in very warm and very protective arms. She glanced up groggily to find a pair of sharp blue eyes gazing at her. "Is it morning already?" She yawned unattractively. "The sun hasn't risen yet, but I think its pretty close." He announced, looking through the branches above quickly. "Wake me when it rises then." She slurred, nestling her head into his stomach and drifted back to sleep.

Darien's heart hummed softly as he looked down on her angelic face. 'Devil by day, angel by night' he thought to himself, brushing back a strand of hair from her face. "Friends! We must be on our way! This area is no longer safe, the hunters are out searching for you! We _must_ leave quickly." Tybald's anxious voice rang.

Darien shook Serena lightly and her eyes lolled open. "Serena," he whispered, "We have to go. It's an emergency." It seemed to do the trick. She was up in a flash, and shimmied down the tree in a cat-like manner, Darien right on her heels. A bone-chilling howl broke the morning silence, causing their hearts to catch in their throats.

Darien took Tybald and placed him on his shoulder and grabbed Serena's hand and he took off, Tybald muttering directions to him as he sprinted. "Oh no! They're going to catch us Darien!" Serena sobbed, barely keeping up with Darien's swift strides.

"Stop worrying Serena, with Tybald on our side, we'll be fine," Darien said this with a less-than confident air, yet Serena never noticed. Even after several minutes of hurried running, they could hear their pursuer closing in on them, thrashing through the brush like crazed beasts. (Which they probably were.)

Darien decided that their little friend had helped them enough. He didn't think risking this poor fellow's life was worth it, so he stopped just long enough to place him on a nearby branch. "Farewell Serena, Darien. I will have your good will in my heart. Just continue towards the northern star. She will guide you towards your destination. Good luck!" With another mighty crash only a few hundred feet behind them, Darien tugged on Serena's hand and without a moment hesitation, hurried forwards. Tybald watched their retreating backs and muttered to himself, "May Selenity's spirit be with you both."

"Darien! Why don't we just face these creatures? We're probably strong enough to face them!" Darien gave her a backwards glance and said, "I don't want us to battle anything if we don't have to."

Unfortunately for Darien, that was not one of his options. An ear-splitting howl rang through the forest and Darien looked back to find two wolf-like creatures were rushing, step-in-step, towards them. "Transform now Serena, before they catch us." She nodded and took her compact out, "Moon Prism Power!"

The two wolves yelped, and came to a halt at the blinding flash. Sailor Moon and Tuxedo Mask were standing side-by-side, prepared for battle. "So here's the moon brat we were sent out to kill. Looks like she has a little sidekick with her, the more for the draining." One sneered, licking his lips in anticipation. If one were to describe these two creatures, one would say they looked like wolf-rabbits. That's precisely what they were, large and dangerous wolf teeth with powerful back legs like those of a rabbit.

"I don't think so. I am Sailor Moon, champion of love and Justice! I get to the bottom of every hairy problem. I will triumph over evil, and that means you!" Serena yelled, lifting her Tiara from her forehead.

The two wolves lunged at Serena, jaws open, ready to rip open her throat and suck her of her energy. "Moon Tiara Stardust!" The tiara flew from her hand, slicing through the first wolf and sending him back to the bowls of hell from whence he came, leaving behind a dazed-looking innocent creature. A strike from a rose that Darien threw was enough to slow down the attack of the second wolf. "Moon Tiara Magic!" With that final attack, the corrupted soul living in the creature was banished.

"Aww, look how cute they are Darien!" Serena squealed, petting the rabbit-wolves with adoration. "You're being nice to them even though they tried to kill us?" Darien questioned her, chuckling at her positive views on life. "It wasn't their fault they had been possessed. They're just poor animals. Go on little fellows, run along." The two wolves licked her hand and hopped back away into the forest.

"See Darien, you just have to get to know me." She winked at him and sauntered forward, pretending Darien was just part of the scenery. Darien narrowed his eyes but his attention was drawn to her endlessly long legs. He had never really noticed just how short her skirt really was. It was meant to draw attention to her figure, which it succeeded in doing extremely well. He swallowed hard and caught up to her quickly.

"We make a pretty good team." Serena said, smiling serenely up at Darien with mysteriously misty eyes. He found himself caught in the sea of her eyes, feeling himself falling deeper into them. He found that he particularly enjoyed this feeling. He realized she was waiting for an answer so he just said, "I guess. Serena, the small but mighty," he teased. Serena stuck her tongue out and flicked him on the head. "As if buster." Things were going back to normal between them, much better than before, in fact. Both Serena and Darien de-transformed and walked together in peaceful silence.

"Oh my gosh! Serena!" A young, female voice reached their ears. Serena couldn't place where the voice was coming from, so she spun in a circle, squinting her eyes against the daylight. She heard a twig crack to her left and she turned her head. "Serena, it's me, Sarah!" The girl said, her head still hidden in the shadows. "Sarah Lino? Oh my gosh! I heard that you were captured! Are you okay? Did anything happen to you? Have you seen Christy? What are you….." her voice gave way to a gasp and a shriek from what she saw when Sarah stepped forward from the shadows. "Oh my god! Your face! Sarah, what happened to your face?"

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Another chapter finished. stretches whew, that took me longer than normal again. Well, I start school again tomorrow… so I hope you guys won't be disappointed if I don't update tomorrow. ;-) R&R please! Kukaburry


	9. Insufferable Romance

Love Me or Forget Me

By Kukaburry

Sailor Moon Disclaimer

Chapter 9- Insufferable Romance

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Serena brought her hand to her mouth, a wave of shock rushing over her. What Serena and Darien were witnessing, Sarah seemed completely oblivious to. "Isn't it fantastic? I met with this woman who calls herself a Queen. It's ridiculous really, but she brought me and Christy to this fountain and asked us what we wanted more than anything. She said this fountain can bless you with eternal beauty, as long as we 'wished for the right thing'." Her eyes seemed to gleam when she said this and she carried on, "Well, I of course wanted to look as beautiful as Mina always does. So that's what I told her."

"Christy, being the prat she is, said she wanted her acne to go away. I didn't believe what she said at first… I mean come on! Eternal beauty? Yeah right. But she told us to take a drink from the fountain." Her eyes went foggy with the memory and a girlish smile crept to her lips, "Well, we both to a drink and guess what, we were gorgeous! Christy looked like a million bucks! I looked better than even Mina!"

"She said that all we had to do in exchange for the beauty was find you Serena! I thought to myself, 'Wow, Serena's here? I wonder if she wants to drink from the fountain too.' Not that you need it Serena, you've always been gorgeous. But here you are….. with…. Hey, what'd you say your name was cutie?"

It was as though she had just noticed Darien standing there. Through her entire ramble, both Darien and Serena had tried to butt in, but never managed. Sarah's face was far from being beautiful, it didn't even look human. The skin was folded several times like a woman of 70's face would be, but her nose seemed to have disintegrated, replaced with a stubble. Her eyes seemed sunken and fiery. Her hair had fallen out in chunks, leaving behind rotting bald spots.

Serena began to cry from Sarah's wretched condition. "Oh Sarah! How could she have done this to you? You weren't ugly! You were very pretty. Now… now…." She dissolved into more tears. Sarah looked as if she had been slapped.

"W-what are you talking about? Are you just jealous that I'm more beautiful than you now? You can keep your boyfriend… I don't care what his name is. Both of you look at me as though I'm an alien! I just wanted to be beautiful and now no one likes me! First Christy leaves, now you, you're a horrible person Serena!" She became hysterical, frothing at the mouth, eyes opening wide.

"No Sarah! She's destroyed you. Just as she destroyed this beautiful garden. She doesn't want you to be happy, she wants you to be miserable. She's sucking your energy from you! You have to believe us…you don't even look like yourself anymore." Darien took hold of Serena's arms as she collapsed, bawling like an infant.

"You don't deserve the fountain Serena. I'm going back there right now and telling Queen Trike that you don't belong here. She will listen to me, she told me I was the daughter she never had." With that, Sarah turned on her heels and ran with unnatural speed, towards the castle.

Serena fought against Darien's grip to chase after Sarah, screaming "Sarah please! Come back!", but he was too strong for her and Sarah was too far gone to contact. She merely went limp against him, heart hammering against her chest, too shaken to cry anymore. "Don't worry about her Serena, with the state she was in, I don't think she'll even make it a mile." That was the exact thing Serena wasn't thinking of. She was thinking of how beautiful Sarah had been, and what she had been reduced to because of Queen Trike.

"We could have saved her Darien. We could have stopped her and tried to heal her." Serena's voice was faint, barely above a whisper. "No, we couldn't have Serena. Hateful magic that powerful, drains a person of their energy quickly, and the energy of anything that comes in contact with it. If you had touched her Serena, you would have been lost."

Serena turned slowly around, and looked at Darien square in the eye. He thought for a moment that she was going to deck him, but she did something he didn't expect. She hugged him. Not a light, friendly hug. The type of hug a person gives when searching for protection. She was asking him to protect her, to make the pain she was feeling stop. He obliged. He wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her easily in his arms.

Serena moved her arms to Darien's neck and laid her head against his chest, grinding her forehead into his shirt and began sobbing all over again. "It's not fair. All she brings is pain. How can someone that cruel be allowed to survive? How can no one try to stop her?" Darien had no answers for these questions. All he felt at that moment was content.

He began walking forward, still clutching the distraught Serena. After several minutes of sniffing, hiccupping, more sniffing and several shuddering gasps, Serena became quiet. She didn't ask to be put down, so Darien didn't. She too felt completely safe in his warm arms. She loved the feeling of his hands running through her hair and the heat of his breath on her head. She had become so drained after her tear fest, and felt so secure, that she lolled into sleep.

Darien, of course, only noticed this when he heard her grumbling and lightly snoring in her sleep. He furrowed his eyebrows and chuckled deeply at how innocent she looked. He became so caught up in his thoughts of Serena, that didn't notice how thin the ground seemed to become. It wasn't until the last moment, when he heard the ground beneath him crack, that he tried to save himself and Serena. He hurled himself backwards, Serena grasped tightly in his arms, but to no avail. They both fell the large hole, into a seemingly bottomless pit.

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Queen Trike stood, looking with pride, at four unconscious Sailor Scouts floating in four separate tanks. The heated battle she had had with them the day before made her feel all the better about capturing them. "They are very strong. Unbelievably strong for such puny bodies." She sneered to herself.

For the nth time that day, Lita opened her eyes and began to struggle against the bonds that held her. Trike waltzed over, giving Lita a praising look. "And this one is the strongest of all." She laughed victoriously. "She will make a prize fighter, after I'm finished converting them." She pressed a button on the side of Lita's tank and invisible currents began to attack her. She tried to will it out, but in the end fell back into a dark and numbing sleep. "You are proving to be a bit of a problem." She said to the unhearing girl.

The tanks that held the girls were no ordinary tanks. They were used with the greatest of energy and will. They sucked all positive energy from the holder, and replaced it with lust and hatred. Trike was turning the sailor scouts to her will, her power. All she needed was sailor moon, and she could take over the universe!

Her devious thoughts were interrupted by the wheezing of Solander, "Your- your highness –wheeze- that Sarah girl has returned." Trike wrinkled her nose in disgust and said, "I thought you got rid of her? Why has she returned?" She sighed in agitation, "Fine, bring her here." Sarah appeared behind Solander in a flash. Solander grimaced at Sarah's rotting flesh and jumped well clear of her, holding his hands in front of him in a protective way.

"My queen. I met Serena in the forest. You said you wished to give her a drink for the fountains, but I am here to tell you that you should do no such thing. She is a traitor, she speaks ill of you. She had the nerve to say that I was not beautiful. Do not grace her with eternal beauty." Queen Trike's vicious smile tore right through Sarah's heart.

"How dare you return without her! I gave you a simple task: To bring that wretched girl… to me… unscathed. What do you do? You fold when she tells you that you are hideous. Well guess what? You are!" She grabbed Sarah's shoulders and lifted the charm off of her.

When Sarah saw her decomposed body, she shrieked with terror, grabbing at her face as she fell to her knees. With a flick of her wrist, Trike silenced the girl, for good. The rest of Sarah's body collapsed on itself, turning into ashes. "Sailor Moon has foiled two of my plans now." Then it suddenly occurred to Trike, Serena was a decent person. She would want to get back at her for ruining her friends lives. "She will walk to my front gate. I can't believe I didn't think of it before. General! I want you to slow down their progression. I need more time to ready my fighters."

She looked lovingly at the four sleeping girls. Solander bowed curtly and ran off outside, planning on sending out the worst creatures he could find.

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Serena's eyes fluttered open. 'Where am I? What time is it? Why do I have a leg on my stomach?' Everything came flooding back to her all at once, and with it came a throbbing headache. She felt the leg on her twitch and heard a groan next to her. "Why does everything happen to us?" Darien growled, his body too bruised to move. He felt movement beneath his left leg, and realized he was lying on her.

"Where the heck are we? I can't see a thing! Is it night already?" It looked like Serena was fine. "I don't know Serena. It looks like it's dark outside, but we can't really tell from here, we're too deep." Serena realized he was right. She couldn't even tell where the hole in the Earth was. She allowed her eyes to adjust to the dark and realized there was a faint glow coming from somewhere to her right.

"Hey Darien," she whispered loudly, "Do you see that?" Darien looked around him, not really having any idea where she was looking. He saw the faint glow as well and said, "Yea. I wonder what it is?"

"I don't know. Let's go find out." Serena suggested, becoming more curious with every passing second. "I don't know. What if it turns out to be something really bad?" Darien said, knowing full well that Serena was probably sticking her tongue out at him. "Oh come on scaredy cat. How bad cold it be? At least it's a some sort of light!" Darien had to agree with her there.

He lifted his leg off of her and stood up, sticking out his hands in search of her. He grabbed, what he thought was her shoulder, and squeezed. "Follow behind me Serena. Just in case." Serena consented, and followed closely behind him.

They walked swiftly yet cautiously towards the source of light. The echoing of their footsteps sounded deafening. They soon realized they were in some sort of stone tunnel and their sense of danger increased.

Finally, they stepped out of the tunnel and into a magnificent room. The rungs that once held torches were now completely empty, the torches burnt out decades earlier. The only source of light was coming from the center of the room. There, on a red velvet pad, was crystal of light. It was sitting there as if it had been waiting for their arrival.

They stopped walking and simply stood, gazing at the crystal's brightness. "What do you think it is?" Serena asked, her voice shaking. Darien blinked excessively and just shook his head and shrugged. Serena took a timid step closer, feeling in her bones, an unknown source calling to her from the crystal. It was as if it were singing, just to her, to come claim it. Darien grabbed Serena's hand and pulled her back.

"What are you doing?" He demanded, staring into her crystal blue eyes intently. "I want to touch it. It's calling to me, urging me to come to it. Can't you hear it?" Her voice was misty and unusually high. "No Serena, I can't. It's a crystal! It can't talk." Darien tried to force this into her head, but she didn't seem to notice. "I have to go to it Darien. Let go of me." Darien rolled his eyes in defeat.

"No. We'll do it together. If it's a trap, I'm being trapped with you." He squeezed her hand reassuringly and felt her return the favor. Together, they glided to the crystal, hands outstretched. Right before they were upon it, Darien spun Serena towards him and placed his hand gently under her chin. He smiled warmly and gave her a swift, delicate kiss on the lips.

Serena seemed to snap out of her reverie and realized what he was doing. She did not protest, however, instead she placed her hands on his cheeks in loving recognition. When the kiss finally finished, they were both flaming red. "Well, here we go." Darien said shakily, knees still weak from that innocent kiss.

With their hands clasped tightly, they reached out their free hands and touched the crystal. The Earth seemed to leap up, tossing them head-over-heels into the shimmering depths of the crystal.

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And that's the end of chapter 9! Thanks to everyone who commented on my poem! I know it was long, but it took me a lot of hard thinking to write it. ;-) Gimme some feedback about this chappie. Thanks! Kukaburry


	10. Flooded Memory

Love Me or Forget Me

By Kukaburry

Sailor Moon Disclaimer

Chapter 10- Flooded Memories

A woman weari ng a sheer silk dress that seemed to be weaved with strands of moonlight rather than with actual string, whose hair was the finest silver color imaginable stood waiting majestically on a terrace. Her deep and powerful voice surprised both of them.

"You finally came back to me love. I thought I would never get to see you again." She glided effortlessly to Serena and clasped her hands warmly.

"I'm sorry, but I don't know what you're talking about. We've never met before." Serena admitted, casting her eyes downwards.

"Don't be silly. I knew you would forget me after I sent you away. I meant for it to be that way. I meant for you to have a normal, happy life, only coming to find me when the need was dire." The woman voiced, tilting Serena's chin upward as if examining her for flaws.

"I'm terribly sorry, but who are you?" Serena was becoming spooked, this beautiful woman spoke to her as if she had known her all her life.

"Serenity, it is I, your mother queen Selenity." Serena felt her jaw open in sheer fright. Breathing did not seem to be an option at the moment, yet she managed to squeak, "But… but Tybald told us you had died! You can't be real, this is a trap.. its.."

"Serenity, calm down. Tybald was correct when he said I had died. Trike only took away my body, but my spirit lived on in the Silver Crystal, the one you hold in your hand. It has awoken for its new owner." Selenity spoke in a serious and confident tone.

"How? How did you survive? Why did you send me away? Why has no one discovered the crystal until now?" Selenity laughed, her voice echoing all around them, in the way voices are amplified during dreams.

"Serenity, slow down darling. How about instead of telling you both, "she cast a mysterious glance at Darien, "everything that happened before I died?" Before either could answer, Selenity took the crystal from Serena's grasp and it began to glow. The soft glow soon engulfed them and Serena and Darien found themselves alone on a balcony of a beautiful palace.

"Darien," Serena breathed, suddenly realizing where she was, "this is the moon kingdom palace! Look at those fountains… Oh, and the gardens! They stretch as far as the eye can see."

Darien leaned on the balcony railing, taking in the fresh air, and the breathtaking scenery. Serena was absolutely right, this place was magnificent.

There were light footsteps and muffled giggling from the entranceway behind them. They jumped and spun around when two bodies walked into the moonlight. Two _very_familiar somebodys. No matter how many spluttering or gasping noises left Serena's mouth, the young couple look absolutely no notice of either Darien or Serena.

"Oh Endymion. I can't wait for our wedding night! Every family from every planet is going to be here to witness it. It's going to be beautiful. You and I finally joining as one."

Serena and Darien continued to gape at the two lovers, not even noticing that they were heading straight for the balcony. They both jumped out of the way just in time as the couple joined hands and stood looking at the gardens.

What made this scene so embarrassing wasn't the fact that they were listening in on a private and intimate conversation; it was the two people holding the conversation. Wearing a lavishing silk dress that hugged her middle and flowed to the ground yet was cut low enough at the top to reveal a protruding cleavage was an identical version of Serena! The woman even had her hair pulled into odangos that stopped just above her waist.

Even the vision of Serena wasn't nearly as shocking as the man to whom she was talking so lovingly with. A man with rich, dark hair and deep blue eyes that sought to reveal everything hidden in his lover's eyes, who wore a set of armor and tights that looked very uncomfortable. Yes, the man was indeed the spitting image of Darien Chiba.

"Serenity, my love, I don't care if no one showed up to our wedding. All I care about, is you and I becoming one. The moment I put that ring on your finger, you belong rightfully to me, and no other man." He growled this last part and playfully jumped Serenity, twirling her about as she squealed in delight.

He then put her down lightly and kissed her fully on the lips, seeming to savor every moment of it. He began to make his way down her chin and her neck to bottom of her throat where he nibbled lightly and blew a loud raspberry.

"Endymion! You bad boy." Serenity giggled, poking his nose and kissing his cheek. "Now I'm going to make you pay for that." She said mysteriously, freeing herself from his loving embrace and began to run down the marble steps, "You'll have to close your eyes and count to one hundred! If you can find me, I'll give you a little treat, my prince." She smiled seductively and ran through the moonlight, galloping around the rose bushes in a lazy canter, not really wanting to get too far ahead of her love.

Without even bothering to pretend to close his eyes, Endymion jumped, no questions asked, over the balcony and landed handsomely on the earth below. Serenity pretended to shriek and ran, followed closely by her prince, out of sight.

The scenery suddenly changed, coming in foggy at first but focusing into somewhere in the middle of the rose gardens. There was Endymion and Serenity, but this time, Serenity was in tears. "I don't want you to go! Tell your father that simply can't leave the moon, you have more important duties!" This seemed to be the wrong choice of words, for Endymion gave her an icy glare. Serenity looked taken aback and sighed in shame.

"No, I didn't mean it Endymion. I don't know what I'm saying. I'm just selfish, I want you to stay here with me. I know your planet needs you more than I do. Just, promise me you won't try to be a hero?" She joked, bringing a short but sweet smile to his lips.

"Yes my darling. I wish we could have gotten through our wedding before the war began. Father is forcing us to leave tonight, right after dinner." Tears had begun to leak from this strong man's eyes. "Tonight? So.. so soon?" These seemed to bear a heavy blow to her.

"Endymion, I want you to take me. Right here, right now. If either of us dies in battle, I want you to know that I gave myself completely, mind and body, to you." She began to slip her dress from her shoulders.

Serena suddenly felt hot. She didn't want to see two people, even though one of them was her, have sex. She took a few steps backwards and bumped into a warm body. She looked straight up, feeling herself melt at his gaze. He seemed to read her mind and wrapped his arms around her stomach, turning their bodies away from the couple.

Their interest was piqued once again, when they heard Endymion speak, "No Serenity, I will not violate you like that. It would mean nothing without a proper marriage and legal binding. Our spirits have already intertwined, that is enough to sustain me. I will come back to you, perfectly whole… and then I will take you." He purred his last sentence into her ear.

Once again, Darien and Serena saw the scenery become blurred and focused immediately afterwards. They were now in a small study room, overseeing nearly eight people and two cats commencing in one loud argument, from the safety of the corner.

Serena's heart suddenly leapt into her throat! She recognized four certain girls who were crowded around Serenity and Endymion. "Darien…It's the girls! And it's Luna and Artemis! What are they doing here?"

As if to answer her question, Queen Selenity's voice boomed over the squabbling girls, "Ladies, you are here to protect your friend. Not to bicker about who should do what!" This settled the girls down quickly. "Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, Sailor Venus, Sailor Jupiter," She named them all in quick succession, "You have been a good friend to my daughter for many years. Now, is the time to step up to the job you born to do. As Prince Endymion is leaving for Earth tonight, I'm guessing the actual battle will commence quickly. I am afraid for the lives of your kingdoms, and mine. Trike is a brutal woman, and does not give up easily."

There were several agreeing nods. Artemis then spoke up, "I met with the representatives of Neptune and Uranus. They do not seek a battle against this woman. She has given them much support in the past, and they don't want to risk losing that. The representatives from Pluto and Saturn mysteriously disappeared on their way here. We know Trike had something to do with this, but we have no proof."

Serena looked up at Darien to see if he had thought it strange, that a cat was talking. He had either not noticed the cat was talking, or was simply used to strange occurrences around animals; either way, didn't seem the least bit perturbed at the feline's speech.

A loud crash from outside the doors caused everyone to jump, including Darien and Serena. The doors flew open and there stood a harassed and anxious little man. "Your majesty," He bowed low to the floor and stood back up, "Trike and her followers have besieged the front gates! You need to hurry to the emergency escape route beneath the palace."

Screams of agony could be heard echoing down the halls, the scuffling of boots on the marble floors getting louder. Endymion jumped from his spot on the couch and leapt over the table towards the doors, "My dear Serenity, go with your mother and the scouts. I must protect you from danger my love." Before Serenity had time to protest, he had escaped into the hallway, towards the battle.

"Mother! Make him come back! You know he won't make it there by himself." Serenity sobbed as Mina and Amy picked up her feeble frame and began to drag her to the emergency escape route. Darien and Serena stood where they were, expecting to be hauled into another memory, but nothing happened. They then realized that they needed to follow the girls, and quickly.

They entered a small dark chamber just as a hidden door closed with a 'crunch'. They had no idea how to open the secret passage, considering there was nothing in the room besides them. "Oh no! How are we going to get in Darien?" Serena kicked at the area where the hidden door was, but it was to no avail.

Serena had just muttered, "Open Sesame," when the stone crunched open again, and a fleeing Serenity rushed out, followed by the angry yelling of Lita and Rei. Darien and Serena rushed to follow Serenity, but didn't have far to go. They found her, arms wrapped tightly around the head of a bleeding and helpless Endymion. "No. No you can't be hurt. You promised to come back in one piece!"

Thunderous voices were heard raging down the hall, about to turn the corner any second. "Run you idiot!" Serena screamed, tears rushing down her cheeks as she watched the poor girl, not able to do a thing.

Serenity took hold of Endymion's underarms and began to drag him back to the secret escape room. That's when twenty or more soldiers wearing blood-red suits and carrying all sorts of demonic looking weapons, came barreling down the passage, yelling bloody murder.

Lita and Rei rushed to Serenity's side and helped to drag him around the corner. Once into the seemingly empty room, Lita touched, what Serena had thought were dirt spots, on each side of the room. The concealed tunnel sprang open and they pushed/dragged Endymion's broken body through, followed by the invisible: Serena and Darien.

"Mother…can you- can you heal him? Please, before it's too late. He's fading already." Serenity was sopping wet from her own tears and trembling as Endymion's blood trickled onto her shirt and began to spread.

Queen Selenity brought out a wand holding the millennium silver crystal and said in a powerful voice, "Moon Cosmic Healing!" A pink glow surrounded Endymion's body and settled into his cuts, healing them instantly, leaving fresh, unscathed skin.

Endymion's eyes flickered for a moment, then popped open as he gasped for breath. "Serenity!" He yelled, flying up and looking around wildly. He saw her dazed expression merely inches away from his face, and swooped into a bone-crushing hug. "When that sword went through me, I regretted never saying that I truly love you Serenity."

Luna and Artemis padded back from a small tunnel that Serena hadn't noticed when she first entered. "Your majesty, the back door is surrounded by the enemy. There is no way to escape from there." Queen Selenity was breathing hard and shook her dismally, not speaking any of the thoughts she was thinking.

"We're trapped! Like rats!" Mina cried, hugging Rei and Lita. There was a crash heard from the secret entrance. The soldiers were trying to bust through the thick wall. A murmuring was heard and a high-pitched female voice could be heard yelling, "Step aside scum! I can handle this."

Just seconds before the wall was blown to smithereens, Queen Selenity, in a final act of desperation, raised the raised and whispered, "Cosmic Moon Power." All heads turned in her direction as their protests were frozen in time. "Goodbye my darling. I will see you soon." With that, all four sailor scouts, Prince Endymion, Princess Serenity and the two cats disappeared with a 'snap'.

Trike blew open the wall and stepped arrogantly into the room but was stunned to find only the weak body of Queen Selenity. "Where is your brat and her sweetheart Selenity?" Trike crowed. "Somewhere, you will never find her Trike." Selenity said scathingly, uncovering the powerful crystal she still held in her grasp. "The millennium silver crystal." Trike gasped, striding forwards and holding her hand out to Selenity. "Give me the crystal and I will spare your life."

"No, you won't." Selenity replied, and the crystal disappeared, just as her daughter had, into the depths of time. Trike, who had had enough of Selenity's tricks, grabbed the sword of her nearest crony, and said in a bewitching and evil voice, "Long live Queen Selenity." She raised the sword high above her and in one swift motion, heaved it down on Selenity's head. "Mother!"

Darien and Serena we ripped backwards and thrown, unceremoniously, on cold marble floors. Serena lay there, tears spilling from every corner of her eye, shaking so hard, she feared she would cause an earthquake. Darien rolled over, facing Serena, and grabbed her roughly, holding her to him, never wanting to let go.

"Destiny gives us each a set path. Splitting you and Endymion apart by wiping your memories did nothing to divert you from being soul mates." Selenity said airily, watching the embracing couple shyly.

"Mother. I killed you," Serena sobbed, "she… I was selfish. I made you heal Endymion and it made you weak." Selenity, shaking her head regally countered, "Trike killed me Serenity. No one else. She struck the final blow. There was nothing the world you could have done to change that."

"Now that you have seen those memories, I think you know exactly what you must do. This crystal appears only when called for. You have a battle at hand, Serenity, and must not face it alone. I have never been more proud of you than this moment my darling. Inheriting our family's power." She handed the glowing crystal to Serena, who was still laying there like a stunned doll on the floor.

"You and Darien will awake tomorrow morning, with a minor headache and in a safe part of my garden, with a little surprise." She smiled to herself when she said that, "The room in which you found the crystal doesn't really exist. It exists only to the one person who is meant to find it. That person is you Serenity…Serena."

Without even a goodbye, Selenity dissolved before their eyes, fading away into space, never to be disturbed again. A sudden, burdening weight was placed on Serena's eyelids. A vision of a garden with the sailor scouts and her knight, Darien, was a welcoming sight. She drifted into the dream and feel into a deep and restful sleep in Darien's limp arms.

Whew.. finally finished with that chapter. I'm sorry if it was kind of… sad? It was meant to be. You have to get the emotions rushing for Serena to want to do ANYTHING right? Review please ~Kukaburry


	11. Pleasurable Predators

Love Me or Forget Me

By Kukaburry

Sailor Moon Disclaimer

Chapter 11- Pleasurable Predators

-I would like to see more reviews of how you think the story is moving along. I would appreciate flames or some kind of feedback. Thanks! –Kukaburry-

Dream

Serena was playing hide and seek in the moon kingdom garden with Rei, Mina, Amy and Lita. She was the seeker, and all of the girls were excellent hiders. 'This isn't fair! They know I'm the worst seeker in the kingdom.'

She heard a hushed giggle come from deep within the bush she was passing. She pretended not to hear the giggle and kept walking. She made a detour from her straight path and turned towards a tree.

She curved stealthily behind the tree and leapt towards the bush, tackling Mina to the Earth. "Gotcha!" Serena cheered, grinning like a fool.

Mina began to breathe heavily, voice rasping, "No Serena, we've got you." Mina looked up through her hair, eyes wild and red. She was drooling, long tendrils of saliva, and razor sharp teeth jutted from her mouth. "We're watching you little princess."

Serena jerked awake, eyes twitching back a forth, scanning the scenery wildly. Her racing heart slowed to a mild trot and she exhaled deeply. 'It was just a dream. That's all it was. I'm just freaked out by that memory from yesterday.' It was still night time, but Serena could tell the sun was getting ready to rise.

She suddenly felt a chilly breath on her neck and she swung around, fists flying into the perpetrators head. "Oh my gosh! Darien! Oh no, are you ok? You shouldn't have scared me!" She blabbered on, while Darien clutched his throbbing head.

"You know Serena, you're a hazard to my health." Darien growled, head pounding in his eardrums.

Serena clutched his free arm, eyes wide as he lolled on the ground further. "You shouldn't have put your big head there you know." She teased, trying to get him to smile or at least forget the pain in his head.

"I was going to tell you that we have a basket of food waiting for us, but you had to go and knock me in the head." He grumbled, sitting up slightly with the help of Serena.

"Food?" She squealed and looked behind her. There was a picnic basket filled to the brim with food, all for her and Darien. In one quick motion, she dropped Darien, ran to the basket of food and began to gobble the food greedily.

Darien fell backwards to the ground and hit his head once again, a sharp pain overtaking him, "What did Endymion see in you? How did he take this abuse!" He mused, watching with fascination, Serena's eating spree.

Serena made a face at him in-between bites but kept her comment to herself. A grumble of his own stomach forced Darien to get up and join Serena's food fest. A triumphant smile played across Serena's face.

"I guess this is the surprise Sel- uh.. your mom was talking about?" It was strange actually saying the word 'mother' about the woman they had so recently met. "It's a nice surprise, that's for sure." He said, trying to make it sound less awkward.

Serena swallowed her mouthful of food hard and said in a strangled voice, "That's not all she left us. Look at that arrowhead, it's glowing." Sure enough, there was a tiny crystal arrowhead glowing softly in the receding moonlight.

"I'll bet you're mother put that there, and I'll bet it leads us to the palace" Darien said, picking up the arrowhead experimentally. When he turned to face Serena, the arrowhead spun in his hand, pointing in the previous direction.

"I think you're right about that Darien." Serena giggled, watching the arrowhead with fascination. "We finally know where to go!" Serena pumped her hand in the air in true Sailor Moon style.

Darien chuckled lightheartedly, "Alright then. Let's go find Trike." He held out his arm and Serena took it graciously, giggling. "Why thank you kind sir. You are a gentleman." Darien rolled his eyes and they began walking through the forest, following the path of the arrow.

As soon as they left the sanctuary Selenity put them in, a harsh silence dropped on them. The air seemed tense and ready to strike at any moment. Serena's neck began to tingle and she tightened her grip on Darien's arm. They looked out with keener eyes and searched for an on-coming attack.

"Darien, do you feel something?" Serena asked, her voice seemed ominously oppressed, as if the air was eating her words. Darien narrowed his eyes and tensed, searching. "It feels like something's pulling on me. Like a tide." Serena nodded her head, feeling that exact motion.

It felt like an invisible tide was tugging at their ankles, pulling them deeper into the forest, away from the path of the arrow. "Darien, the arrow is pointing that way, we're walking this way." Serena pointed out.

The pull of the tide became stronger, and Serena's thoughts of straying from the path vanished, replaced by an urge to be swept away by the tide. "Serena! Darien!" Two voices, one masculine, one feminine cut through the din of silence.

Darien and Serena completely forgot each other, and began to run straight ahead, blindly hitting branches and stumbling over rocks in their haste. A girlish giggle erupted from the clearing ahead, "Darien silly, don't keep me waiting!" Darien lunged through the trees into the clearing. Serena rushed into the neighboring clearing.

Sitting on a nest of vines encrusted with the most stunning flowers, was an enchantingly beautiful brunette. "Hello Darien. I am Raven." The girl cooed, her voice flowing over him melodically. He was so entranced by her sinking blue eyes that he became completely oblivious to the scene a mere twenty feet away.

Serena was standing only inches away from the face of a god. The young man had a chiseled chin and a nose that curved upwards slightly at the end. His eyes were a divine shade of amber and his hair was a messy mixture of red and brown. "Hello Serena. I'm Ryan." The masculinity of his voice coursed through her veins, causing her stomach to dance and her heart to flutter wildly.

"Open your heart to me Darien." Raven purred, caressing his face with the back of her hand. "Tell me your greatest fear."

Darien blinked sleepily, "Losing my friends," He replied nonchalantly. "Why are you afraid of losing your friends Darien?" Raven asked, pulling his face closer to hers. "Because then I would no one left to love." His heart made an extra aggressive beat against his chest. "Yes Darien, that is the feeling I need. Show me your love."

Darien felt her hand press against his heart. "You don't have any friends Darien," she sneered, pushing him to the ground. "I am the one you show love for," she demanded, kissing him roughly on the mouth. She crossed her hands over his heart and waited a moment for his love energy to build up. "Who do you love Darien?" She asked, breathing heavily into his ear. "I.. I love…."

"Who is the one person you would miss most if they died Serena?" Ryan asked huskily. "My mom. She's supported me my whole life." She replied, sinking in the chocolate waves within his eyes. "What would you do if she did die?" He pulled her onto his lap, his lips barely inches from her skin. "I would die as well. How could I live without her?"

Serena answered the questions, never noticing their significance nor her truthfulness when answering. "What man do you love the most Serena?" Ryan asked, kissing her chin and moving slowly down her neck, sending electric shivers up her spine. "I… I think.." she trailed off, drawing a blank. This caused Ryan to stop his barrage of kisses, "Do you love me Serena?" He asked, laying her on the slab of rock and nibbling on her ear.

Her heart beat wildly in her chest, her mind began to spin. "No! I love Darien!" : "I love Serena!"

They both opened their eyes, finally seeing clearly. There were no longer two beautiful people lying on them. The figures mimicked the shape of a rose, faces emerging from beneath the petals, but the bodies were thick vines that began to crush Darien and Serena.

They transformed immediately. The words seem to flow mechanically out of Serena's mouth, "Moon Crystal Power!" She began to panic when she said these words, 'I've never said that before. What's going on?' The silver crystal began to glow in her compact.

Gold light surrounded her body, the warm tendrils wrapped around her arms, her legs and her chest. Her outfit had… changed? She no longer wore her short fuku and button-up top. She now wore the dress she had seen in the flashback; the dress of princess Serenity. Realization finally hit her, and she stared into the amber eyes of the rose. "I am princess Serenity, and you have been a naughty boy."

His eyes opened wide in shock and fell off the rock slab. "P-princess Serenity? How can that be? She sent us to fight Sailor Moon!" He looked over his shoulder at Raven, but she had become too tied up with Darien. Serena took her scepter and roared in a booming voice, "Moon Scepter Elimination!" Ryan dissolved in a shower of moons.

Darien closed his eyes in concentration, drawing a rose from his pocket. The rose immediately took on the personality of steel. What he took from his pocket was a jewel-encrusted sword. His eyes widened in shock. 'What is this?' His modest shirt was stripped from his body and replaced with a breastplate and shoulder plates.

He had become Prince Endymion. He took a calming breath and looked into Raven's greedy soul. "I am Prince Endymion, and I stand of peace and justice. You are not the one I love; be gone to the realms of the Negaverse where you belong." In one clean sweep, the blade cut cleanly through the vines that had become Raven. She screamed in agony and vanished in a fury of colors.

When the light had died down, Serena and Darien looked up from the ground into each other's eyes. The twenty feet that separated them seemed to stretch a mile. They couldn't believe what they saw. Serena saw her handsome knight, and Darien saw his beautiful princess. Darien swallowed the twenty steps in mere seconds and scooped Serena into his arms.

"We did it Darien. We've become who we were meant to be." Serena whispered with her head tucked into his neck. "We're finally following our destiny."

"Yes, and there's no one I'd rather be destined to than you Serena… Princess Selenity." Darien chuckled, tilting her chin up and kissing her innocently on the lips. "We really are meant to be together. Us evading temptation proves it."

Serena pressed a finger to his lips, shushing him. "Yes my love, I know that. Shouldn't we be looking for a certain horror-faced woman right now?"

Darien laughed and nodded. "You don't miss a thing do you Serena?" He searched his pockets for the arrowhead. He searched his left pocket. He searched his right pocket. He searched his back pockets. He searched his left pocket again. "Um… I uh.. can't find it…" he stumbled, mouth going dry. "Where is it?"

"Oh no. You lost it? It can't have gone that far!" Serena said exasperatedly. They both jumped when a voice sounded from high above.

"Lost something have we?"


	12. Edible Moonlight

Love Me or Forget Me

By Kukaburry

Sailor Moon Disclaimer

Chapter 12- Edible Moonlight

"_Lost something have we?" _

Serena whipped her head around, craning her head upwards to catch sight of the speaker. "Who are you? Show yourself." She attempted to sound intimidating but her voice came out as a squeak.

"Don't tell me I'm that scary Serena." Tybald's little head popped out from the foliage.

"Tybald!" Serena squealed, jumping up and down with glee. "I thought I'd never see you again!"

He puffed out his wings indignantly, "I know how to survive on my own. You two are being followed by morgus. They're very deadly creatures, but have no sense of smell. They seem very determined."

Darien shook his head, exasperated. "I don't believe this. How are we ever supposed to reach the palace? We lost the arrowhead and now we're all turned around." Serena patted him on the arm, trying to encourage him. "This is impossible."

Tybald gave him a quizzical look and began laughing a full-bodied chortle. "But don't you realize?" Darien and Serena stared at him, flabbergasted. "It's right through those trees! You've already made it."

A clearing appeared to their left. "How did we get here?" Serena awed at the grandness of the palace in front of her. Her home. "This looks nothing like the palace we saw before," she turned a disappointed face to Darien.

Indeed the extravagant marble looked corroded and chipped. Every fountain was bone dry with skeletal remains littering the bottoms. In place of roses, black nightshade grew tall and thick. "What happened here?" Darien asked angrily. He couldn't understand why everything looked dead and desolate.

"This palace is magical and it takes on the image the owner has of themselves. Queen Selenity exuded a loving, hospitable aura. Trike exudes malice and hate. The castle shows the true deterioration of her heart."

That made sense to Serena. She turned a questioning eye to Tybald. "What a horrid woman, but I don't understand how she got here though. We fought her last year on Earth and completely banished her from the galaxy."

"That is hard to say. Trike has not left this palace for a hundred millennia. It could not have been her. Perhaps you were mistaken?"

Serena felt a sudden rush of adrenaline. "I don't care who she is or was. I will destroy her either way and restore everyone to their rightful position."

Tybald noticed a halo of light shining on her face and suddenly realized whom Serena reminded him of. He nearly lost his breath at the discovery, but remained silent knowing that destiny would put everything in its place.

"I wish you both luck. I cannot go with you I'm afraid. I have been branded as an outsider and therefore banished from entering the palace grounds altogether. If wish I could be of more help."

Darien nodded his curtly in understanding. "Thank you my friend. You have been more help than we can ever hope returning. We are truly indebted to you."

Tears welled in Serena's eyes as she leaned down to hug Tybald. "I will save you, I promise. You will return your proper form and all will be well."

Deep down Tybald knew he might survive the transformation back to human form after being trapped in this body for so long, but he gave her an encouraging smile. "I give you all my hope. Go now before the sun sets."

Darien darted across the palace grounds closely followed by Serena. They looked around cautiously feeling uneasy about the silence and lack of guards. "This could be a trap," Darien whispered back to Serena. "Stay close."

Serena didn't need to be told twice. She shadowed Darien as closely as she could trying to ignore the prickling sensation that had returned. The main door, once covered in glittering moon emeralds now stood bare and threatening with jagged spikes jutting out at every angle. They both pushed against the cold steel and cringed when the gears squealed in rusty protest.

"So much for going in unnoticed," Darien grumbled when footsteps were heard coming down the stairs. Serena and Darien transformed into Tuxedo mask and Sailor Moon.

Serena removed her tiara in preparation, but faltered when she saw a staggering and ragged Mina heading towards them. "Serena!" She gasped, breath short. She fell to the ground in pain.

"Mina! What happened to you?" Serena ran over to her friend and held her in her arms.

Mina opened her eyes wearily. "Trike, she brought us here and tried to hurt us. Serena she's so strong.." Darien stared at the two in angry shock. "Serena," she whispered weakly. Serena bent her ear close to Mina's mouth. "I'm just faking."

Serena's hand darted for her tiara, but Mina beat her. "Venus Hate Chain," she snarled, a barbed chain of hearts began swirling around Serena.

"No!" Darien roared, running forward to protect Serena.

"No you don't Darien," Mina breathed maliciously and snapped her fingers. Darien disappeared into thin air.

"Darien! No!" Serena screamed, trying to break free of Mina's entrapment. "Mina what's wrong with you? We're best friends. You can't do this to me." No emotion shone in Mina's eyes which were glassy and dark. "What has Trike done to you?"

Mina laughed cruelly. "Just like you Serena. Always crying and whining when things get difficult. You're so pathetic, I don't know why we didn't make Lita or Rei leader. At least they can do things right the first time."

Serena's heart began crumbling at Mina's hateful words. "You don't mean that. I never said I was the best leader. I always tried my hardest."

"Shut it. I'm going to do us all a favor and get rid of you forever. Maybe with you of the way we can find the real moon Princess like we've been trying to for the past four years. Don't you see how much a hindrance you are?"

Serena took a deep, steadying breath. "The real moon princess is dead!" She lied, stalling for time. "We heard it from someone who was there back when the moon kingdom crumbled. He saw her perish in front of his eyes."

A glint shone through Mina's eyes and Serena knew she had her distracted. "Who said that?" Serena swallowed hard. "Tell me you wretch before I get really angry. Queen Trike killed Queen Selenity with her own hand and she said Princess Serenity was nowhere to be seen. Queen Selenity sent them away somewhere." She said all of this without taking a breath. "You must be lying you worthless girl."

Before Mina had a chance to fight back, Serena drew her tiara and yelled, "Moon Tiara Power!" The tiara hit Mina directly in her stomach, momentarily releasing Serena from her hold.

While Mina regained her balance, Serena ran up the marble stair-case. "I'm going to get you Moon Brat! Queen Trike will take your reality and rule the galaxy again!"

Huffing, Serena rounded two corners and found herself at a dead end. A door with a gilded handle caught her attention and she pushed it open. Dust rose in the air and she tried not to cough. An unmade bed and hangings caught her attention. The walls were blank and dingy, but a hint of royal wall paper seemed evident underneath the layers of grime. "This was my room," she whispered aloud. She couldn't understand why she knew this, it just came to her.

Besides the bed, only a chest of drawers remained in a state of disrepair. She pulled the doors open and found a long flowing silk dress that she recognized from the memory Selenity had shown her. "She.. I was about to get married. Can things really change that quickly?" She rubbed her fingers over the fabric. "How could I forget such a thing? How could my friends forget me? I thought we all loved each other more than that."

A masculine yell of pain brought her back to reality. "Darien!" All of her muscles drove her down the hall in a wild panic. She was sure she had heard his voice this way, she made a left and came to another dead end.

"Sailor Moon! We've found you!" Serena whirled around to face four unfamiliar feminine faces. The girls all wore the fuku of a sailor scout.

Serena automatically pulled her tiara down. "Who are you? Are you another one of Trike's tricks?"

A tall slender girl with green hair stepped forward. "I am sailor Pluto, timekeeper. This is sailor Saturn, sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune. We have been trapped between worlds for some time, but your passing has freed us."

"You mean you're the outer scouts? I recognize you, sailor Neptune and sailor Uranus! You came to our help last year." No sign of understanding passed through either of their eyes.

"You must be confused. We have never met before. We do know there is a tear in time and space that Trike created by bringing you and the other scouts here. You do not exist in this universe," Neptune told her coldly.

Pluto held out a patient hand for silence. "One of you must be the moon princess. Have any of you found out whom it is yet?"

Serena, feeling trapped, shook her head. "No, we've been trying to find her for years and we still don't know." Nervous sweat beaded her brow.

Pluto looked saddened by this news. "So she must still be in hibernation within one of their spirits. We must find your friends and test their heart power quickly before Trike finds her."

Cringing, Serena nodded slowly. "She has them under some sort of trance. Mina.. Sailor Venus attacked me and tried to kill me. I think they're in great danger."

Sailor Uranus looked at her, alarmed. "I hope we're not too late. Come, we must find them immediately. Serena, show us where you last saw Sailor Venus." Serena sedately took the lead and retraced her steps to the main entrance.

It didn't take them long to find the other scouts. They all stood in rigid lines in front of the main throne room with raging red eyes. "She's come running back and she has friends," Rei hissed. "How cowardly of her. But what's to be expected of our pathetic Sailor Moon. Always the weakest of the group."

"It's not fair to have five on four, is it?" This time Amy spoke up, blue hair tinged with black streaks of malice. "We shouldn't let them cheat like that."

"No definitely not," Lita agreed, curling her hands into fists, readying her thunder attacks. "Maybe we should bring out our fifth member."

Out of the shadows, Darien dressed as Prince Endymion strode forward sword in hand. All of Serena's energy flowed out of her body. "No, Darien. How?"

He scowled at her, disgusted. "Miss me?"

Neptune dogged forward and the others followed except Serena. "Outer Scouts, line up! We must find which of these girls is Princess Serenity, do everything you can to show their heart power."

Everyone stopped dead when Darien began laughing a high, cold laugh. "You don't know? Serenity is already here. She is standing right behind you." All eyes turned to Serena in utter confusion. "Here I come Princess."


	13. A Second Chance

Love Me Or Forget Me

By Kukaburry

Chapter 13 – A Second Chance

-

"Here I come Princess," Darien's ice-cold voice chilled Serena to her very core. He withdrew his polished sword and charged through the line of outer scouts, followed closely by the inner scouts. Everyone on Serena's side charged into battle, fighting one-on-one.

Pluto began fight Mercury, Venus attacked Uranus, Mars began fire-balling Neptune and Saturn began sparring with Jupiter. A rainbow of colors clashed in the middle of the hall.

"Garnet Ball!" Pluto shouted as Mercury shot a freezing beam of bubbles at her. "Mercury Demon Bubble!" Another blast of bubbles followed the first line, momentarily knocking Pluto off her feet. She countered with a cry of "Dead Scream".

"Mars Ink Fire Consume!" Mars roared, sending a hot black jet of fire at Neptune who blocked with a shield of ocean water. "Neptune Tide!" Neptune pushed her wall of water forward, fizzling the flames to ash and submerging Mars in a rush of water.

"Uranus World Shaking!" Venus was knocked off of her feet by a powerful blast from Uranus. "Venus Barbed Heart Chain!" Her deadly spiked chain wrapped around Uranus's right leg cutting into her deeply.

"Jupiter Thunder erase!" A powerful bolt of lightning surged towards Saturn who was too slow to dodge the attack. "Jupiter Mind Bolt!" Another powerful surge of energy entered Saturn's body, knocking her to the ground. After a moment of gathering her breath, Saturn shakily stood back up, attempting to build her most powerful attack.

"Not going to fight back?" Darien mocked as his sword slashed through the air, barely missing Serena's chest as she jumped out of the way. "You really are pathetic. You'd rather not fight and let your friends suffer?"

His words cut at her like a knife. "Why don't you hand over the silver crystal and I'll spare you a painful death." Black fire burned in his eyes, showing a void of emotions and feelings.

"Moon healing!" She frantically cried, showering him with a glow of golden stardust filled with love and positive energy. Every thread of her being was going into the spell, but he continued to look at her, completely blank.

"Your petty healing will do nothing to me sailor moon. Are you afraid to transform into Princess Serenity?" He sneered wickedly at her, trying to goad her into changing. "Maybe you'll stand a chance against me then."

"I will not fight you!" She cried, whimpering like a child. Her cheerful blue eyes held nothing but sorrow and anger. "You are someone I love, I cannot do it."

Angrier than before, Darien clenched all of his muscles and pounced forward, aiming his sword directly at her heart. "Sailor Moon! Move!" Sailor Uranus roared, sending a ball of energy at Darien just in time.

The crystal in Serena's transformation garment began to glow with a pink hue. 'Serenity, you must transform and use the crystal to revert their minds. Only your heart full of love will have any effect,' the ghost voice of Serena's mother whispered to her.

"Mother I cannot. I'm not strong enough, I don't know enough," she whispered back, eyes welling with fresh tears.

'Yes you are. I believe in you. My blood runs through your veins, you are stronger than you know.'

"If you will not hand over the crystal then I will take it from your dead hands!" Darien cried, eyes glistening at the thought of her blood. Noticing the final blood-crazy look in Darien's face, Serena searched for the crystal and held it gingerly in her hands.

"Royal Moon makeup!" A bright flash surrounded her, temporarily blinding everyone in the hall and successfully stalling Darien from his rampage. Standing where Sailor Moon had been was Princess Serenity dressed in a silky, flowing gown. "Prince Endymion, do not harm me." She tried to reason again. "You and I, we are bound together through eternity."

Darien tore off his top coat in fury. "You lie! 'We' are nothing, you are nothing. It doesn't matter what you say Princess Serenity. You are going to die today, once and for all, just like your mother."

Serena gasped and escaped into the chamber behind her, the throne room housing Queen Trike. "Why is she still alive, Endymion?" Trike roared upon seeing Serena still alive as well as unscathed. "Finish her off now!" Her face was green and contorted. A thousand years of ruling in hatred and malice had grotesquely masked her features. Her eyes shown as red as a boiling sun full of hate and corruption.

The outer scouts ran into the room, having just escaped from the brutality of the inner scouts, and made a protective circle around her. "No one touches Princess Serenity, we will serve her to the death!"

"Then you shall die with her," Trike hissed, sending Endymion and the inner scouts into mind-altering states of rage and anger. Each roared a bone-chilling battle cry and unleashed a series of powerful moves severely weakening the outer scouts.

"No my friends, do not sacrifice yourself for me!" Serena cried, trying to plead with them to leave. "Just save yourselves, you've done enough."

A dark aura began traveling around Saturn's body and a scythe appeared in her left hand. She opened her velvet eyes and her body became rigid. "Death World Revolution," the words flowed musically from her mouth. Her breath turned into a gale of destructive energy and knocked everyone to the ground except Serena and Darien. All instantly fell unconscious.

"Do you see how your selfishness has hurt everyone around you?" Darien spoke low, Trike's words rolling off his tongue with spite. "Your time is finally up. Long live Queen Trike!" He lifted his blade parallel to the ground and rushed towards the defenseless Serena who stood stock-still in terror.

A force took control of her unresponsive body and lifted her hand with the Crystal into the air. Three powerful words surged through her mind and flowed to her mouth. "Silver Crystal Destruct." In an instant, the crystal erupted into a billion flecks of dust and a moment later Darien's sword sliced through her stomach with a sickening sucking noise.

Heat from the crystal washed over him and the scouts like a warm, fleece blanket being draped over their entire body. Darien dropped his grip on the sword and fell to his knees, Serena fell to the ground next to him, motionless.

Rei opened her deep brown eyes and blinked, looking around at the other girls who were picking themselves up dazedly. "Where are we?" Her entire body felt numb and heavy. Mina looked at her curiously, clearly just as confused as her. She looked to Lita and Ami as well, then noticed four girls she had never set eyes on before. "Who are you..."

Her question was cut off by a blood-curdling scream of anguish. All eyes snapped towards the source and saw Darien cradling a completely lifeless Serena in his arms. "Noooooooo! Serena!" The words echoed throughout the entire hall sending chills down everyone , including Trike, spines.

-

Serena yawned and opened her eyes lazily, feeling weightless and warm. "What a great nap," she murmured, curling herself more tightly into a blanket. 'Serena..' a voice echoed. "Who is it?" She lifted her head and looked around, complete nothingness surrounded her. "Where am I?"

"You are in the in-between Princess Serenity," a young woman with powerful features wrapped in a black and red senshi uniform. "We have been waiting for you ever since you were re-born on Earth. Sadly you have died too early."

"Who- who are you?" Serena stuttered, trying to wrap her head around the fact that she was dead. "Are you here to decide my fate?"

"No. I am Chibi Sun, once Princess of the Sun Kingdom. You and I never got a chance to meet since Queen Trike and her soldiers destroyed my entire kingdom." A pained look crossed her face. "I am here to save you. These are my scouts, my allies, our allies." Hundreds of children dressed in senshi outfits of varying colors appeared like ghosts next to her. "We all perished in the galactic fight over a thousand years ago. We wish to help you Serenity."

Serena couldn't believe her ears. "Help me how? What can we do at this point? I'm dead, I can't defeat Queen Trike now."

"You are the true heir to the kingdom. We are guardians of peace and love. You were never meant to die in this universe. Your mother changed your future to exist in your universe only. Everything Trike has done has rearranged and shifted time and space." She gave Serena a grave look. "If you are not alive, both universes will crumble into non-existence. We want to give you a gift. You can avenge our death and set time and space straight again. We want to show you something."

An image appeared, swirling like liquid, and froze upon a familiar sight. She saw Darien hunched over her lifeless, bloodless body, crying. "Serenity come back to me. I love you! I love you! You can't be dead, we have our life together, our children, our friends." His entire body was drenched with her blood, but he didn't notice. He didn't notice the other scouts walking towards him in awe, he didn't notice Queen Trike laughing hysterically, he didn't notice a halo of moondust beginning to swirl around him. All he saw was the pale, cold face of his beloved.

"Serenity, we are giving you another chance. We are pooling the remnants of our life forces to take you back and finish what you started. Do you agree to defeat Trike and reclaim the kingdom for those who died defending it?" Chibi Sun, red hair swirling madly around her face, stared Serena down, daring her to say 'no'.

A swell of every emotion she had ever felt in her life seemed to rupture through her chest. "Yes. I swear. I will do it for my friends, I will do it for my love, I will do it for my mother and I will do it for every person in the history of time who died because of Trike."

Shimmering moonlight sprayed from each of the senshi and Chibi Sun. The cloud rocked up and down, trying to take shape of the body it was repossessing. "Take care Princess Serenity. We will meet again" Chibi Sun's voice grew weak and vanished along with her body. The glowing moonlight encompassed Serena's entire body and exploded outwards.

Serena opened her eyes.

-

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please leave a comment if you liked it or not. ~Kukaburry


	14. Immortal Friendship

Love Me or Forget Me

By Kukaburry

Chapter 14 – Immortal Friendship

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"Darien," she gasped, gladly filling her lungs with forgotten air. "Darien, I'm alive."

"S-Serena?" Darien blanched at the sight of her mended body and flushed face. "How? I killed you, I watched you die." Several gasps erupted from behind him as the other sailor scouts rushed forward to see their friend. He cradled her closer, never wanting to let go.

"How dare you!" Trike spat, standing up from her throne and pointing a withering finger at Serena. "What sort of magic is this? The dead cannot be brought back to life."

A glossy look crossed Serena's face and she stepped out of Darien's arms gracefully, turning to face Queen Trike. "You will be punished for your treachery," her voice sang like a whispering wind. She brought her index finger to her forehead and light encompassed her. "My friends, lend me your strength," Serena's ghost voice echoed throughout the room.

Each scout pressed a finger to their forehead in compliance and a rainbow of colors joined Serena's light. Darien stood up and placed his comforting arms around her. "I'm with you, my dear Serenity."

The spiral of light began weaving and bobbing in erratic patterns, forming a spherical globe right in front of Serena's chest. Everyone de-transformed in unison and the ball of light solidified into a magnificent crystal. "The Platinum Crystal has been created," the voice of Chibi Sun escaped Serena's open mouth. "The sacrifice of friends and allies has joined to create the ultimate weapon that only a pure heart can use." Serena's eyes opened, hollow and flaming. "With this Crystal, you will die Queen Trike."

When Serena's uniform began morphing around her body, Darien let go and watched in shock as the garment hugged her body. The slim, pure-white dress of Princess Serenity was gone and in its place was a silver and black body-hugging uniform. Dark streaks of deep maroon swept through her odangos and black boots hugged her to mid-thigh. "I am the Immortal Princess, sent to destroy anyone who dares threaten the existence of our worlds." A majestic and omniscient voice replaced Serena's feeble and pallid one.

"With this crystal I will banish you from time and space, never to breath another breath on any planet under my domain," She raised her silver-gloved arms above her head and spoke three power words, "Immortal Planet Dispel."

A purple jet of light roared from the crystal and hit Trike square in the chest, toppling her over the throne. "I will not give up to you, I will take what is rightfully mine," she shot her talisman forward and hit Serena with a magnificent bolt of silver energy. She suddenly found herself encompassed in an impenetrable crystal force-field.

There was nothing anyone could do to help, all of their supernatural powers resided within Serena now. "Serena! You can fight her!" Ami yelled, clutching her hands to her chest. "I believe in you."

"As do I," Darien spoke, watching in anger as his beloved fought to escape the trap. "You will win."

"Mere words will not save her," Trike barked a laugh at their feeble attempts to rescue Serena. "You are weak and powerless, you cannot help her."

"You're wrong!" Rei yelled, flinging out her arm in resentment. "Our words mean everything to her. We tease her and laugh at her, but never say we love her, even though it's in our hearts. Serena, I love you. I believe you can win."

Darien, Lita, Ami, Rei, Mina, Uranus, Pluto, Saturn and Neptune all stepped forward and touched their breasts right above their hearts. "The power of love will always triumph," they echoed Sailor Moon's saying together.

With one swift kick, Serena cracked the crystal in two. "Emotions and feelings are fleeting, but words will always retain their power. It takes a strong person to speak of love, something you know nothing about, Trike. That is your failing. Infinity Cosmic Shower!" A swirl of cosmic dust looped together and wrapped itself around Trike's defenceless body. Her talisman fell to the floor with a crash.

"Goodbye." Serena threw the Platinum Crystal into the air and roared, "Immortal Love Erupt!" A shower of black hearts swallowed Trike and began spreading across the floor, enveloping everyone in a din of silence.

Sunlight fell onto the Sailor Scout's faces and they opened their eyes cautiously. They looked up and saw a glass ceiling hovering above the throne room, shedding new light on the marble room now vacant of thorns and spikes of evil. "She's gone!" Mina cried, falling to the floor in utter exhaustion.

Serena, still dressed as the Immortal Princess, looked around and smiled fully. "Finally, our friends can rest in peace."

A short man with large green eyes and thick brunette hair came running into the room dressed in servant clothing. "My queen! My queen! You are alive!" He rushed up to Serena and bowed lavishly, but faltered upon seeing her face up close. "My princess, I apologize, you look exactly like your mother."

Serena smiled down at him royally. "You are forgiven, Tybald." The man squeaked at his name. "I recognize that thoughtful face of yours. How does it feel to have your rightful body back?" She asked kindly.

"It feels like a gift, your highness. We are all grateful to you for your help." He looked over his shoulder as hundreds of earnest faces peered through the doors curiously.

"My friends, please enter, this palace belongs to you now," Serena opened her arms in welcome.

Darien walked to her side and lifted her hand to his lips. "You were magnificent," he whispered low and she blushed at the huskiness of his voice. "What will we do now, my princess?"

Sailor Pluto stepped forward and bowed her head. "Immortal Princess, you have done well, we thank you for your help." The other outer scouts joined her and bowed to Serena. "Time must be righted my lady. We, "she gestured to the four of them, "must return to our rightful place in history as do Serena and her friends."

Serena nodded her head and Tybald looked sad, "So this our final goodbye your highness?" She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder and smiled sadly. "I wish you luck in your journey. May you live forever." He stepped back quickly and joined the mass of servants and courtiers now standing in awe of the Immortal Princess.

"What must I do?" Serena asked, turning back to Pluto.

"Grasp the Platinum Crystal in your hands and say 'Galaxy Continuum Resign'. This will send the Immortal Princess back to her resting place and bring all of us back to when time shifted."

"I understand. Will we ever meet again?" She asked, glancing sadly at Uranus, Neptune and Saturn.

Pluto smiled mysteriously, "Only time can tell us that."

Serena sighed and bowed her head in understanding. "I hope I don't forget you," Darien spoke low in her ear.

"We could never forget each other. We are eternal soul mates, nothing can stop that." She lifted her head towards him and captured his lips in a brief, but loving kiss.

"Princess, you must say the spell before the energy of the crystal runs out," Pluto spoke more urgently.

"Very well," Serena's newfound velvety voice quavered. Gripping the crystal tightly, she stepped in the middle of her friends and whispered. "Back to our old lives. Galaxy Continuum Resign." Gravity left them floating in suspension, waiting for the swirls of time to resew themselves. A ghostly form of the Immortal Princess withdrew from Serena's body and hovered in the air next to her. "Take care. I'll be waiting."

The blue school fuku fitted itself to Serena's body once again. Darien grasped Serena's hand and pulled her towards him. The Platinum crystal began to tremble and soundlessly disappeared in the hands of Immortal Princess. The sound of waves crashing approached from the left and Darien hugged Serena tightly. "I'll see you soon, my love."

-

"Oh no! I'm late again!" Serena cried, flying down the sidewalk towards school.

'Ooof!' She barrelled into someone and fell flat on her butt. "Gomen," she bowed and looked up. "Argh, why do I always run into you? Why can't it be a normal person for once?"

Darien stared down at her and laughed, "You're lucky it's me, meatball head, and not some stranger who might teach you a lesson in manners." She glared and him and stood up, brushing off the dirt. "Arcade studying again tonight remember? Don't be late."

She puffed up her cheeks and stuck out her tongue. "I know, jerk face. You're Mr. Smarty pants, blah blah blah. And thanks to you I'm doubly late!" She growled and glared at him.

"Hey, I like what you did with your hair!" He commented, finally looking down at her properly.

'What is that idiot talking about?' Serena thought, grabbing her odangos and pulling them forward for inspection. A dark red streak started at the top and blended into her blonde hair until the tips. "What the heck?"

"It gives you a very.. royal look," Darien grinned and pulled on one of her locks of hair.

Serena smacked his hand away and picked up her bag. "Har har, I'm late. See you later baka," she gave him a huge grin and raced off down the block. Darien watched her go and felt something stir in his chest, but pushed it away. 'What a silly girl.'

Serena, out of breath, ran into home room and found her seat. "Nice try getting here on time," Ms. Haruna said sarcastically, back to the classroom. "Please go stand out in the hall for ten minutes."

Rei, Lita, Ami and Mina giggled at her annoyed face and jokingly waved at her while she walked out. Serena slid the door closed and leaned against the wall and sighed. "I wish something new would happen." The sound of people walking caused her to look out into the garden.

Four beautiful girls wearing the standard senior outfits stared at her from the central school garden. 'Wow, who are they?' She thought in awe, wishing she could go out and meet them. Three of the four turned around and entered the opposite building without changing facial expressions. The last, and smallest, girl with violet colored hair cocked her head to the side and smiled at Serena before following the others.

"I wonder if they'll want to be friends with someone as young as me?" Serena mused thoughtfully. "Nah, who am I kidding," she laughed, "I have as good of chance of dating Darien as I do becoming friends with those girls!"

THE END

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Hello my wonderful readers. Or should I say.. farewell? Nah, I'll be back with a new installment sometime in the future. Only time can tell, right? I hope you enjoyed it! ~Kukaburry


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